Dreams of Flying
by Darksknight
Summary: He was supposed to be gone. Scattered, ashes in the wind. She knew she just lonely, despite all the people around her. She was looking for him in her memory to push off the sadness that was settling around her, to convince herself she was home somehow. That had to be it, she was imagining him. So why, when she reached, did it feel like the air reached back? (On hiatus)
1. Sunlight

Sunlight. It was golden and twirling and fresh, and it came pouring down in thick yellow curtains like the glow of a healing shield. It streamed through the windows of Orihime's apartment, filling her senses, making her sigh out puffs of breath to stir the particles in the air because it made her feel so drowsy.

Orihime had cried herself into a numbness, once. She found that now sometimes when she might have cried in the past that same numbing sensation came back and suddenly she just shut down. This time she found herself in the living room, hiding in a corner with her knees to her chest and her back to the wall.

One of her hands slipped up over her breasts to rest just over her heart. It wasn't numb like her mind, it ached. It throbbed dully under her skin and bled all over her ribs because it just couldn't seem to hold all of the despair it was drowning in.

She kept that one had over her heart, slowly straitening out her legs. It would do her no good to cower in the corner of her living room sulking.

She pushed herself up into a standing position.

Slowly, though, she leaned back into the wall, her head dully thumping against the white paint. She watched with a lovely sort of detachment as she fluidly, though slowly, raised her arm.

She reached out to the empty air in front of her, to the sunlight, and made a grab like she was searching for a hand.

Little tiny particles of dust swirled past her fingers, spinning in the air before lazily drifting on.

She held her hand out, open, waiting, reaching. She could see through her middle and index finger like they were some sort of window. Her heart ached and dripped with sorrow, but the rest of her was unfeeling.

Her eyes widened.

It wasn't often it felt like the air reached back.

* * *

So! I've decided to start yet another UlquiHime fic. Except, you know, with a lot more angst. I hope to hear from everyone telling me what they think and all that good stuff. So... enjoy!


	2. Far Away

Tatsuki looked up from her notes and to the front of the room, copying down the next set of formulas the teacher had jotted out onto the board. Still, it felt hopeless. She didn't think she would ever be able to wrap her mind around the math they were being taught. Was she the only one who was confused?

She looked around the room, but no one she saw looked like they were lost- they didn't look much of anything, all she saw were students taking notes. She wished she was better at reading people. But hey, Orihime was easy for her to read; how was she handling the class?

Tatsuki looked over at her best friend to find out, only to see that Orihime wasn't handling the class at all.

She had her chin resting in an open palm, her elbow braced on the surface of her desk. She faced the windows, looking lost and alone though she was surrounded by people. She had one hand reached out, to the light, her fingers lightly moving very slightly every now and then. She looked puzzled; like she didn't understand why the sunlight didn't suddenly materialize a hand and latch onto her hand.

Tatsuki was just about to turn back to her notes when she saw Orihime suddenly sit up, eyes a little bit wider and a small smile on her face. Her hand was still out in the sunshine, and her eyes were so far away Tatsuki had to wonder if Orihime could see her hand at all. But she looked so relived, so happy, like she had found something she had thought she'd lost more than once.

Tatsuki looked at her friend's hand.

It was slightly curled, her fingers no longer moving at all. As if she was holding something.


	3. Reaching

Ichigo looked down over the side of the roof, Rukia seated beside him. He could see the tree that some of his female friends frequented for lunch- he could even see them. Tatsuki was one of the girls that usually sat beneath the tree, but for some reason just for the day she had decided to sit up on the roof with him.

"Is Orihime usually that detached from the group?" Rukia asked Tatsuki. She had been looking, too.

Tatsuki frowned. "No... not usually."

Ichigo squinted. "What's that she's doing with her hand?"

Tatsuki didn't even bother to look; she knew what he was talking about. She simply shrugged, looking away. "Reaching."


	4. Prince and Demon

The air wrapped around her hand. She knew it was her imagination, but if she just concentrated hard enough it felt real. She could reach out again, for that hand, and grasp air that was almost more solid than the hand she had reached for in the first place. It was something about the sunlight; warm and pulsing with life that made it seem all the more real.

"Orihime, are you coming with?"

She looked up, blinking, and then shook her head. She put forth a smile, tilting her head so that the light just barely caught the edge of her right hairpin. It gave a tiny shine, adding onto her smile and giving everyone the over all feeling that Orihime was just as bubbly as usual. "No, not today, I have a lot of studying to do."

"Oh, okay. Can we give you a ride home? The weather forecast said it might rain."

Orihime titled her head back to regard the sky. It was baby blue, thin wisps of stratus clouds dotting the right edge in her line of sight. "No, it's okay. I don't think it will."

"Okay then, see you on Monday!"

Orihime nodded, absentmindedly, still looking up at the sky. It was nice of the teacher to take them outside for the last period of the day.

Orihime heard a familiar tone of voice, followed by another, the light and playful arguing of Ichigo and Rukia making its way to her ears. She watched them walk down the grassy slope that led to her usual lunch spot, bumping into each other with smile smirks like they were having some sort of sparing match that involved simply bumping hips. Rukia was a little too short to actually bump Ichigo's hip, though, so when he hip-checked her he was hitting her waist and she had to retaliate with an elbow.

Ichigo stopped under one of the branches of the tree, the light around him slightly green due to it streaming through the canopy of leaves above him. He gave her a friendly nod and a little wave, Rukia smiling at her right after noticing she had Ichigo's attention. Rukia gave a wave too, though Orihime thought she looked funny doing it and like she didn't really know what she was doing.

"Hi Kuroaski-kun! Hi Rukia-san!"

Ichigo really did look like a prince, standing underneath that grand tree, when he returned her greating. The thick chocolate colored bark set off his eyes, and the green haloed around his head contrasted sharply with his orange hair.

But then he turned to say something to Rukia, who was still waving happily, and Orihime blinked becuase suddenly her vision had changed.

Standing under that tree, shadowed by the leaves Ichigo's face had a bit of darkness about it. With sharp branches behind him, it almost looked like he had two long horns protruding from his for head. Ichigo really did look like a demon, standing underneath that grand tree, when he turned his head just to the side.

When Ichigo looks back to Orihime he finds that she's gone.

She didn't stick around to even say goodbye- but he knows that she got up and left on her own accord because he sees her running by herself out of the school yard and towards her house.


	5. Lonely

Orihime sat on the train, on her way home from school. She was glad it was the weekend- she was exhausted.

It was strangely quiet, the only other people being an elderly woman with a bright yellow dress sitting far down to the right with a bag of groceries next to her purse and another man with dark circles around his eyes down to the left, trying to sleep in his seat. Orihime had wandered around long enough that she had missed the after school and work hour rush, but she had still been a little surprised to find the train so empty.

The seat beneath her was painted a dull green like the rest, the paint chipping to reveal white underneath. The floor was the same color of white, stained with some sort of browning splotch near the door. It smelt heavily of disinfectant and cheap coffee.

The next stop the man got off, looking ready to drop dead if it meant a wink of sleep, and a woman with three children got on. She had one baby strapped to her chest, another on her back, and a toddler with a bad-aid over his nose hodling her hand. Her other hand was filled up with a diaper bag, which Orihime also guessed could double as a purse.

She sat down a couple of seats away from where the man had, taking the baby off of her back and hodling it's sleeping form on her front with her other child. The toddler pulled himself up into the seat beside her, slipping on his first try but getting up the next. He leaned back in the seat with heavy eyes, his thumb stuck in his mouth as he stared Orihime down. After a couple minutes he pulled his thumb from his mouth with a '_pop_' and pointed at Orihime. "Pretty." He told his mother.

His mother had looked over at Orihime once and gave her a tight smile, telling her son, "Yes, she is. But it's rude to point, dear, so please don't do it again." She tucked a couple of loose strands of hair behind her ear.

"Okay." He stuck his thumb back into his mouth.

The small family got off at the next stop, no one getting on. It was just her and the old Lady, on the way to the train station near Orihime's apartment.

Orihime curled up, noticing how late it really had gotten. The sun was already streaking the horizon with shades of red and orange.

She frowned slightly, pulling her knees up to her chest since there was no one around to see but the lady on the other side of the train cart. Orihime rested her chin on her knees, looking out at the sunset.

The red looked like blood.

She turned her head away, looking down at the unoccupied end of the cart. She realized that the mother had left a coupon in the seat, but it didn't really mean very much to her.

She found her face suddenly wet. She sat up a little, touching her fingertips to her cheek. "Is it raining?" Had her friends really been right, and was the weather worse than it had been when she left? But no, she was in a train, and a glance outside told her that she had been right all along and that it wasn't going to rain.

She was just lonely.

She set her chin back on her knees, looking strait ahead.

The old lady in the end of the cart looked over, smiling lightly, and to herself mumbled; "Go for it, boy." It had been a while since she had seen a man hesitate like that, have such emotion in his eyes when he saw his companion crying. They sat two seats apart, and she hadn't so much as glanced at him the whole journey, but when she started to cry he had turned and reached out, his hand hovering just out of touch while he sat looking like he was trapped and wanted nothing more than to rush to her. "Go for it."


	6. The Smell of Sand

At her stop Orihime had managed to pull herself together. The elderly woman who had ridden the train with her shuffled out of the cart, looking over and mumbling about how "Why didn't he go for it?" and "He was so close." She just shook her head, heading home.

Orihime exited after the woman, walking down the street to her house in the twilight. The sky was more pink and purple than red; the sun just barely peeking over the horizon.

She stops for a second before going up to her apartment, wondering if she should call Tatsuki and have her come over. Orihime is lonely, and she needs someone, but most of all she needs a real person to talk to her and distract her from the smell of sand.


	7. Eyes in the Dark

In the end Orihime ended up doing her normal routine. She ate, did her homework, watched a couple episodes of some show on TV, and then took a shower. After that, she got into her pajamas, brushed her teeth and hair, and then crawled into bed.

She finds she can't sleep because of the city noise, which never used to bother her before.

She had thought that the hollows howling outside her window all through the night were bad, but coming back she could think of a million machines and people that were a million times worse.

She clenches her teeth and thinks of nothing, staring into the darkness, searching the light-less room for anything and everything at once.

She almost falls asleep four times, but right before she finally did each time she swore she saw something stir in the darkness. A flick of a black tail, the twitch of a wing, the shifting of something covered in fur. The fourth time she sees eyes so green she wonders why she hasn't drown in the ocean of color yet, and she finally forces herself to sit up and turn on the light.

When she did, she found her room to be empty.


	8. Breaking the Sky

The sand was like thousands and thousands of diamonds, cast about in a storm and strewn over the land. Jagged licks of lightning grew up from the land in trunks and branches of white crystal. And there, is that castle, that palace of nightmares and monsters. On the outside, it looks like it's been carved right out of the ground, like it was some huge deposit of marble that was sculpted over hundreds and hundreds of years and is polished every night so that in the moonlight it will shine.

The air was crisp and cool, so full of life you could practically taste it on your tongue. There were no stars, but rather a long endless pool of black, of darkness. It looked hopeless from the ground, but up in the sky you feel like the sky is a flowing black silk cape that you've wrapped about yourself, and everything below is just the most lovely piece of art you've ever seen in your life.

At least, that was what Orihime thought.

The wind rushed over her skin, kissing her face with a fresh bursts of air. The night was eternal, yes, but to her it felt young. She could see everything from the sky, everything. It was all under her feet, and she was walking in the sky, warmth at her back and holding her there.

She could hear the heavy flapping of leather behind her, and looking over her shoulder she found huge black wings were keeping her up. She lowered her gaze to look into striking viridian green eyes. Strands of silk black hair, like strands of the night sky, rolled over her cheek and tickled her neck. She was not startled or even afraid.

"Take me further." She asked, smiling. "I want to see more."

He did, flying higher and higher into the sky, until she looked up and reached out because she was so sure she could touch the moon.

But her fingers broke through the sky, and when she turned her head back in panic to see if the green eyes looked alarm she found she was surrounded by ash; tumbling down from the sky like a bird shot in flight.


	9. Glassy-Eyed

Orihime sat in the little coffee shop that had just recently opened up down the street, pushing her index finger around the rim over her glass. She ordered a Strawberry Italian Soda, but she finds that maybe there is such a thing as too sweat, because she can't force herself to drink it.

She looks around, wondering where Ishida was. He wanted her to come down to the little cafe like shop because he knew the owners somehow and had wanted to introduce her, but he was late. Ishida, she thought, was never late.

When he finally stumbles in she finds that he had been out killing hollows, because there is the smell of the beings in the air and the heavy feeling of death and emptiness that follows them clinging to Uyruu's own spiritual pressure. She doesn't mind, she's glad that he was keeping people safe.

He ordered a coffee; no sugar, no cream, nothing. Just the black coffee and caffeine.

He talked to her about all sorts of things, though they mostly stuck to real-world business. They talked for a while about the handy crafts club. All throughout it Orihime found herself distracted by the oddest things. The color of the lights- a gentle peach. The bell on the door- it chimed twice whenever someone came in. The patterns of the tile floor- brown tiles with one cream colored tile for every four brown.

At one point when they were talking about dresses, Uyruu stops because he's looking into her eyes and not seeing himself but rather a glassed-over look that tells him she's far, far away.

"Inoue?"

"I dreamed of flying," She tells him, her eyes still glassy as she stares out the window. "High, high above the sands. I think I may have touched the moon."

He nodded at first, smiling, about to open his mouth and compliment her on her vivid imagination and day dreams. But then he stopped and let his mouth hang open and gaping. He looked like he may have been punched in the gut when he finally get's what she's saying, because where else would there be sand and a moon so big you might want to touch it but in Hueco Mundo?

"Let me pay for your coffee." He said after a moment.

He avoids the subject.

"Yeah, okay."

She doesn't really think she knows what the subject is, anyway.


	10. Storms and Monsters

Orihime, when she was young, used to be afraid of storms.

The wind howling sounded like some sort of creature, and then the thunder claps added onto the eerie night with a roar like a monster's. She would shake every time an arc of lightning bolted across the sky, wondering what sort of beast was able to throw forks of electricity. She didn't understand how rain could come from the sky, so she assumed that it must be the tears the clouds shed out of fright.

She would burrow underneath her blankets, quivering with fright, and silently cry as she waited for it all to pass.

Sora would come home to find her that way- cowering under the blankets of her bed and whispering to herself about how it was going to be alright. He would come over to her and crawl underneath the blankets with her, like it was some fort he was inviting himself to, and look at her with excited eyes like they were playing a game.

"What are we hiding from, Orihime?" He asked.

"The monsters." She whimpered. "I can hear them out there howling."

With that, he would throw the blanket of the both of them and bolt from the bed to the window, his red tie trailing over his shoulder like a tiny cape. He would tear the window open, the wind pelting his face with rain, and stick his head out.

"Sora, no! The monsters will get you!"

He popped back inside, smiling. "Monsters? Don't worry Orihime! I'm a robot from the future with laser-eyes and rockets for fists." He held out his hands, popping each one up like they were shooting off. "Boom! I got one! Boom! Another!"

She would slowly uncurl from the ball she had tightened into, raising her head to look up at him.

"Shwooo! Ka-Boom!" He laughed, looking over at her. "Come on Orihime, don't you want to fight some monsters?"

She would put on her watermelon smile, nodding as she jumped from her bed and ran to the window to fight the monsters with Sora. The two of them were the perfect robots, able to take down any monster that came with the storm.

She wasn't afraid anymore; the rain was fun because she got to fight monsters.

Then Sora had died, and she had forgotten all about the monsters. The rain was just the rain, a storm was just a storm, weather.

The monsters she had pretended to fight were just hollows, and they howled not to frighten, but out of agony.

And instead of burrowing into bed to wait for Sora, she lay there alone, her hair draped off the side as she stared up at the ceiling, waiting for another dead man.


	11. Dressed to Forget

"Do you like my dress, Tatsuki?" Orihime did a little twirl, showing off the pink and green piece. It fell lightly against her knees, the skirt loose and twirly while the top part clung neatly to her form. "It's cute, huh?"

There was to be a dance in a couple of weeks at their highschool, so for the day Orihime and Tatsuki were out dress shopping before the stores were cleaned out by everyone else.

"Yeah, it's alright." The martial artist wasn't very feminine, but she was perfectly able to tell if something was cute or not.

Orihime pouted. "That's what you said about the last dress. And the one before that." She imitated Tatsuki's voice, a hand on her chin. "Yeah, it's alright."

Tatsuki shrugged. "Yeah, and they are. I think you would look better in something different though… Like…" She looked around the racks around her, the only part of the store they hadn't gone through, and suddenly reached out and snatched up a garment. "This is perfect, Orihime Something like this!"

Orihime stopped moving, her eyes focused on the dress.

She turned, going back to the changing room. "I think I'll go with the pink one." She told her friend.

"What!? You're not even going to try this on? It looks perfect!"

Orihime stopped in the doorway, looking back over her shoulder at Tatsuki. "Yeah… I know."

"So what's the problem?"

"I don't like how it will look on me."

"You haven't even tried it on! I think it looks different, sure, but it's nice. It doesn't look like it was made for any body type, yeah, and it's a little old fashioned… at least try it on, even though I know it will look a little different. Do you think it will look stupid or something?"

"No…" She looked back at the dress, smiling faintly. "Surprisingly, it suites me."


	12. Winter Wardarling

Orihime stops, looking up and around her. She's in the school's large auditorium, blinking in wonder. Student council really got down to business when it came to decorating.

There were snowflakes cut out from cardboard and spray-painted white, coated in a heavy coating of blue and white sparkles. There where white streamers pinned all over the walls, white and silver balloons on the edges of the room and stuck up on the ceiling.

They've put up white pillars in the room- roman style. They're made out of cardboard and plastic but they look like ivory columns from a desert palace from another world in the blue light.

Even the dance floor has been decorated, a fake moon and tons of tiny paper stars dangling down just above the heads of everyone who ventured out to sway to the music.

There is a long buffet table to the right of the room, a huge crystal punch bowl that looks covered in frost filled to the brim with some sort of strawberry drink in the middle. There's other things, a chocolate fountain filled with white chocolate to fit the theme and other little cookies and cupcakes and things that go with the rest of the committee's wishes.

The theme, after all, is winter wonder. Though for all the perfection that there has been crammed into the event, it was sure that one thing would go wrong and that thing was the fact that all the banners and posters and such thing that had been printed had a typo- it was "Winter Wondar" to the chagrin of the entire student council. They had done a pretty good job covering it up- they had gone around the school with stencils one night and added in 'ling' to the end of each poster, making it "Winter Wondarling" and then in the morning everyone had marveled at their craftiness and everything had been fine again.

The printed banner hanging at the head of the room had been made of cloth, though, so in order to not look tacky the council had left it as it was, thinking they had already smoothed their error over as best as possible anyway and that no one would mind.

Orihime had been picked up by Uryuu, who was wearing something awfully close to his Quincy outfit. It matched the theme really well, though, so she figured it made a lot of sense and wouldn't cost as much as renting a tux would have. She was glad he had asked her to the dance, though she got that creeping feeling that it wasn't just as a friend as he said, but she didn't really mind, even if she didn't return his feelings. He was one of her best friends- if things had gone differently maybe she could have fallen for him.

Ichigo and Rukia seemed to have had the same idea as Uryuu, as they are wearing things awfully close to their zanpakto releases. Rukia looks like her sword, all pretty with white and purple and ice. Ichigo is wearing black, like a lot of guys, but the red in his clothes is gone and now there's just a lot of white. She wonders why they came in the garb, but then thinks that they probably did it because it's what they were used to wearing and as such were comfortable in it. They moved around the room freely; not stiff like everyone else shoved into formal atire.

She hadn't wanted to get anything new for the dance, because even though she had tried to buy a dress a while ago with Tatsuki she ended up not. She was going to wear an old dress of her own, but then that awful dress had shown up at her doorstep with a note from Tatsuki saying that she had bought it on a whim for Orihime after hearing about the theme of the dance, knowing the girl didn't have enough to get it herself with all of the make-up billing she had done to recover from her time away, and also stating the dress was _made_ for the theme.

She was back in a dress almost the spitting image of the one she had worn in Los Noches. It was strapless, and without the odd front piece, and swept the ground unlike her old one. But it was white and black and was worn the same- it looked almost the same, and essentially she felt the same.

She sees the pain in the eyes of everyone who had gone to Los Noches when they see her; especially Uryuu, who looked guilty the whole ride there. Even Renji, who is dancing with Tatsuki, has the decency to look away from her when she walks into the room.

Uyruu politly asks her if she would like to dance, and she answers yes because they're a date and that's what dates do. He leads her out under the fake paper moon and the cut-out stars and snowflakes and slow dances with her, his hands holding her gently and at the respectable height.

But then Orihime listens to the lyrics of the song, and she finds her stomach churning.

_If I only had a heart,_

_If I only had a heart, _

_If I only had a heart._

_Maybe I could love you_

_And whisper that it would be okay._

_If I only had a heart, _

_If I only had a heart, _

_If only had a heart,_

_I'd leave with you _

_And we'd both still be alive today._

She glances away from Uyruu at the back wall, looking at the banner that's been strung there in hopes of getting a grip on reality. In her eyes, though, the "on" has disappeared from "wonder" and suddenly there's a huge sign on the back wall screaming "Winter War" at her. She looks over at the buffet table, again searching for reality, but the punch bowl full of red has been knocked over by a boy who was laughing too hard and there is crimson dripping from the table cloth. But all she sees is a crisp white uniform soaked with blood, the owner nowhere to be seen.

"Please take me home." She begs.

He looks into her eyes, and around the room at everyone else to see if they can also detect the ghosts in her eyes. They do, and they're silently begging him to please just get her out of there before they all drown in their own guilt.

He nods. "This is all pointless anyway," He assures her, "It would be my pleasure to leave."

But she doesn't reply, because she's trembling like a leaf in the wind, tears welling up in her eyes as they practically run for the door.


	13. Falling Far

Orihime sat up in the car, eyes bleary, blinking.

Uryuu gently shook her shoulder again. "Inoue, we're here. You fell asleep."

standing, and tried to swallow the bile in the back of her throat. "I'm sorry that I ruined the dance for you, Ishida."

He smiled faintly, pushing up his glasses just a little. "Like I said, the whole thing was pointless."

She smiled back at him, rising from the car, and took a step towards her apartment.

"Inoue?"

She turned back around.

"What did it feel like?"

"Hmm?"

"In the car just now. You said you touched the moon."

She blinked. She didn't remember any such thing.

He looked like he realized he would have to further elaborate. "You said you were flying."

It was fuzzy, but she could picture it suddenly. She gulped, blinking rapidly as the emotions from her dream come flying back to her. "Soft." She murmured. "Like skin."

Ishida is a man of logic and science, but he is also one with dreams . He clearly wanted to talk to her for just a little longer. "What did it look like that close?"

"Lonely," She answered, unsure if she was talking about the moon anymore, "Lonely and sad."

His face fell just a little when he realized that he was making her just as troubled as she had been when they left. "Oh."

She started up the stairs, her eyes far away again. "I think… I'm the only one who ever reaches for-" She paused, the word _him _on the tip of her tongue, but then she changed her sentence. "-it… And that's why I can fly so high."

He didn't say anything, he just watched to make sure she made it inside.

To herself, she mumbles, "And that's why I can fall so far."


	14. Ghost

Orihime was in the middle of Gym Class, running with her hair flapping behind her in the breeze calmly passing through the field. They were playing soccer, a sport she really enjoyed. She kept glancing over to the right of the field, where Tatsuki was running with the ball rolling before her feet. She knew that any second now her friend would pass the ball, and the Orihime would kick it into the goal and win the game.

She saw the tree that grew in the playing field just ahead- she would swerve around it and receive the ball like usual. She kept her eyes trained on it, trying to look inconspicuous, and kept running.

Her throat was burning- she had been out playing the whole hour, never once taking a break. She had sweat rolling down her head in thick droplets, the wetness making her hair curl around her hairline and stick to her neck.

She was only a few feet from the tree- she would move suddenly to the side in moments.

"Woman."

It has been more than a year- almost 19 months. But she would never forget the way his voice sounded; though even though she had seen him in her mind and felt him around her since then, she has never once heard his voice.

Her eyes wide, the world slowing down around her, she turned her head to look at the spot just a little off in the distance, off of the soccer field and to the left of the tree before her. She saw him there, standing in his second release, his black course fur swaying slightly in the light wind. He was his first self from the waist up to his forehead, though he still had no half- helmet on his head. Just like he had been the moment he died.

His eyes drilled into her own, the deep emerald color sparkling in the noon-day light.

She blinked.

When her eyes open again, she's staring at an empty spot of grass.

"Orihime!"

She turns just in time to realize there was something in front of her, and then she ran face-first into the tree she had been about to go around.

Blood started to drip from her nose, and her vision went slightly blurry. It was funny that she didn't knock herself out; she had barreled into the tree at full speed.

Everyone flocked around her, asking if she was alright and showing a general concern for her.

She got sent to the nurse's office a couple minutes later, and after getting cleaned up the nurse told her that she seemed okay, but that she should go into town later that night and see a physician.

Orihime only nodded, thinking that maybe she should see a therapist while she was at it.

It was one thing to see ghosts- it was another to see a dead man.


	15. Talk of Spirits

"Well, you look fine. The only thing that's off is your heart rate- your pulse is unusually high. But it doesn't look like it's anything to worry about; you're as healthy as a horse." The doctor flipped a sheet on his notepad over, still not looking up at her. "Your nose isn't broken by some miracle, but it's going to be tender for a while, you scraped it up pretty good. Your face should heal up soon so…" He looked up at her. "I'd say you're good to go, Inoue."

Orihime nodded, shifting her legs a little where they dangled off of the examination table. "Thank you for your time."

"No problem. If you have a regular doctor that you go to, though, you should probably schedule an appointment to get your elevated pulse checked out. It doesn't look like anything, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

Orihime nodded again. "Thank you, I will." Even though she didn't have a regular doctor- that was why she was in the clinic in the first place. "Have a good day!"

"You too." He waved laxly, ready for his next patent.

Orihime ended up walking back home, her nose bandaged over. She was glad she had gotten excused from school for a day to get her injuries checked out- since it happened on school campus they probably wanted to make sure she was OK so that she wouldn't be able to sue them or something. But still, it was nice.

"Hey, where do you think you're going? The ground isn't swept yet!"

"Jinta, no fair! I swept my half, you told me that we would split the work!"

"Are you calling me a lair?"

"Ow, Jinta, that hurts!"

Orihime looked up to find she had somehow strolled to the Urahara shop.

She blinked, about to leave, when suddenly she decided that she would go inside.

After all- what better place to talk of ghosts than in the shop of one?


	16. Ghost of a Ghost

Kisuke Urahara was not a simple man by any stretch. He had put up a font of one, but it wasn't a very good one what with all the cryptic messages and hints he had always dropped. Orihime found herself wondering just how complex the man was as she sat across from him, politely sipping on her tea.

She hadn't told him why she was there, but he seemed to have the nose of a business man if nothing else- he could smell when his talents were needed. He fanned himself, stretched out on the other side of the table, regarding her with eyes shadowed by his hat.

The air was tense.

"Kisuke," A female voice purred, coming closer from behind the screen door. "I'm in the mood for-"

Orihime looked up in slight surprise when Yoruichi through open the slidding screen door, dressed in black panties and a frilly white corset. When the woman saw Orihime she stopped in her tracks, her eyes no longer on the shop keeper but on the human with the powers of a goddess.

She smiled a bit, unabashed by her attire. "Oh, hello Orihime." She lost the lustful haze in her eyes, coming over to simply sit next to Urahara with her legs crossed. "What's troubling you?" If one thing, Yoruichi didn't beat around the bush.

"Um…" Orihime pushed her index fingers together, looking away. What was she supposed to say?

"Your spiritual pressure feels a little off." The cat-woman commented off handedly. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Well… um…" Orihime swallowed. "I don't really know?" She finally sighed out.

Kisuke leaned forward, eyes sparkling with interest. "Forgive me for saying this, but you look a little nervous. Is… something the matter?" The way he said it made it seem like he wasn't asking a question, but rather telling her he knew something was wrong and that she was to tell him.

She finally spoke. "Is… Um, is there such thing as the ghost of a ghost?"

Suddenly his eyes lost their spark, and the female beside him didn't look so lit up anymore.

"We need to talk." Urahara said.

"Not here." Yoruichi added.

Orihime nodded, biting her lip. Something was going on.


	17. Gosuto Zan-on

Orihime lay in her bed, a small frown marring her features. She felt relieved, yes; and for the first time in a long, long time she felt like the weight on her chest had been lifted. But that didn't shake the fact that she was still being haunted by a man who was dead twice over, that she was the only one who could know, and that as far as she knew the whole world was about to be turned on its head.

She still couldn't believe it- everything that Urahara and Yoruichi had told her.

"You see," Kisuke had started as soon as they were inside of the training cave down below the ground. "About six hundred years ago Soul Society devised a method of recovering lost soldiers called _Gosuto Zan-on_. It was developed and turned into a serum which shinigami on dangerous missions would take. It was actually only given to-" He coughed a little. "-important people."

She thought as much.

Yoruichi started talking then. "It was one of the only things Kisuke didn't invent." She turned to him. "Though he did try to check for any flaws in the formula, even though he was just a kid."

"Unfortunately, I found none. Nothing like the project had ever been done before, so I didn't have much to go on…"

Yoruichi nodded. "You see, when a Soul Reaper began to die, they would reach out to one of their partners and leave a 'memory' on them. They would pass away, usually turning to dust then, and when the other Shinigami came back to Soul Society they would simply go down to the 12th squad with the ghost of the dead Soul Reaper trailing behind them. Even though, really, not many of us could see the ghosts, funnily enough. Then, the other person would drink another serum, and then would be hooked up to a machine that would enable their cells to divide at an incredible rate. The extra cells would be used to re-construct the ghost beside them, and then everyone would go home happy."

"However," Kisuke said. Because in these matters there was always a however. "the project ultimately failed."

"What?" Orihime cocked her head to the side. "Why?"

"Well, you see, a lot of times the person dying simply wouldn't have enough will to make themselves stay in some sort of existence. They would fade away anyway, and the other person would be left with dreams including the dead Soul Reaper's memories- most of them nightmares. On top of that, sometimes a soul would have enough will to carry on as a 'ghost' so to speak, but would not have enough will to actually let their body re-grow. Will was something that wasn't able to be built with any medication or serum."

"Then," Yoruichi said, "Things started to go even more wrong."

"Soul Reapers would come back to life with no memory of who they were, what they were, no nothing. Just pure instinct to survive. We had tons of people just loose it; they started to destroy whatever they could." Kisuke bowed his head, looking away from Orihime. "They would just suddenly drop dead sometimes. A lot of times they came back with horrible side effects, like missing limbs or no eyes or added limbs. Genetically, they would mutate every now and then. Mostly, though, it just stopped working. Most people, in death, didn't have anything to hold on to. They just let go."

"Those that did come back," Yoruichi supplied, "Had someone waiting for them. But we found that after two souls- the imprinter and the imprinted- were so heavily twined together it became impossible to separate them for very long. People who didn't know each other suddenly had to be within a certain range of each other or they would die or experience horrible pain."

"Then another problem arose." Kisuke continued. "You see, Souls that were injected with the Gosuto Zan-On never lost their spiritual pressure. We had Bounts show up in the world of the living before then, but after the project we found they multiplied in number vastly."

"In the end," Yoruichi concluded, "It was just too problematic. The program shut down."

"So…" Orihime trailed off. "What does this have to do with me?"

Kisuke looked back up at her, his eyes still shadowed. "Well, you see Miss Inoue, we had some in storage. And Aizen… well, he took a jar. I think he may have just wanted to test it out on some of his arrancar, to see if it would work."

"We have heard from some of our informants that it ended in the same way." Yoruichi told her.

"But," Kisuke turned his head a little, allowing his eyes to be seen completely. "What would stop him from at least trying it one one espada?"

"One who, in the end it seems, might have had someone to live for."

"Seeing as some aspects of a hollow were used in the fluid, it would make sense. But in order for it to properly work, ever, the person given the serum would have to have incredible regeneration abilities."

"But…" Orihime frowned. "Wouldn't you need that machine?"

"To divide your cells? No, the ghost would just need a proper gigia to live in for a while he or she regenerated. I'm not saying it would work, but in theory, it sounds extremely probable…"

She didn't hesitate with her next question. "When can you have a gigia ready?"

"Two weeks."

She nodded.

Yoruichi leaned over the table a little, a gleam in her eyes. "Though, Orihime, if you wouldn't mind us asking… Do you think it's wise to even try to bring one of the espada back? From your request, I gather that's the case here."

"Yes," Kisuke said. "She does have a point. We shouldn't try to bring anyone back if we don't know if you would be safe."

"In other words," Yoruichi smirked. "Who's the lucky guy?"

Orihime got up, dusting herself off, and for the first time in a long time, she gave a genuine smile. "My caretaker." She said lightly. "Ulquiorra Cifer."


	18. Fragile Lies

Orihime walked into the school, her regular smile put up to full brightness. It was forced, it always seems to be as of late, but she didn't really mind too much. It made her friends happy- they think she's shed the darkness from her time as a prisoner when they see her smile so often. Tatsuki, of course, never really bought her false smile, and Ishida looked like he was catching on, but as long as they don't say anything she won't stop.

"Good morning, Inoue." Ishida greeted her, something that had recently become more of a routine than anything. She liked it, though.

"Good morning, Ishida!"

"Did you sleep well?" He varied his question day to day, but usually it's something small like that.

"Yes." She lied.

"I'm glad." He replied, even though he knew she was a lair for saying it, because he could see the bags under her eyes and the way her focus shifted quickly and suspiciously around the room.

"Did you sleep well?" She always asked him the same question he asked her.

"Yes." He told the truth.

"I'm glad." She lied again, even if it was just a little, because she really wished there was someone she was close to who couldn't sleep all night or, if they did sleep, had vivid dreams that turned bitter in the end. Misery loves company, after all.

The bell rang and everyone sat down, quieting as the teacher started to call names out.

Orihime looked over at Tatsuki, who had come in a little late, and waved at her. Tatsuki waved back before ripping a piece of paper out of her notebook and scribbling something down.

She crumbled up the paper she had written it on, then looked up at the board to see if the teacher was looking. Finding herself to be in the clear, Tatsuki leaned to the side and tossed Orihime the paper ball.

_Rough night?_

Orihime thought about lying, but decided against it after a second.

_Yeah._ She wrote below Tatsuki's own writing. _I couldn't sleep again._

She threw the note to Tatsuki.

It came sailing back a second later.

_Could you not fall asleep or was it the dreams again? If you want I could come over and make sure there really isnt someone in your room later?_

Orihime smiled at the note, touched by her friend's concern. She had yet to tell Tatsuki that she had confirmed that there really was someone in her bedroom at night- he was just dead. More dead than all her other dead friends.

_No its okay. _She decided to tell another truth. _It was the dreams again._

_Which one?_

_The flying one again._

_Did you die?_

Orihime stops, trying to remember. After a second, she scribbles; _I don't really remember. I think that I woke up before it turned into a nightmare._

_Was it different this time or was it the one where you break the sky_

_Different._

_Different how?_

Orihime didn't reply for a second because the teacher was passing out text books. Once she returned to her desk at the front and buried her nose in a magazine, Orihime wrote back.

_This time the ground was different. It's really fuzzy, I don't know. __And I think that I __Never mind I just remembered that I did die again. I ran out of breath because we went to high… and he couldn't breath ether but we didn't want to land for some reason…_

Ittook Tatsuki a while to reply. _Can you remember why? And I really want to know who this guy is! Why can you fly with him?_

Orihime hadn't told Tatsuki it was an espada she was with in the dreams ether. _No I can't remember. And it was the same guy _ She stopped. She re-wrote the message _No I can't remember. And it was the same guy__ we couldn't land because the ground was flooded._

_With what?_

Orihime bit her lip and looked over at her friend. Tatsuki hadn't thought Orihime was crazy after the girl told her all that had been happening and all of the crazy dreams she had. So was it okay to tell her the whole truth? She decided that she could.

_Blood._

Tatsuki didn't write back for a long, long time. When she did, her handwriting was tight and there were a couple of places you could tell the led from her pencil had broke because she was pressing down on the paper so hard.

_This is all that idiot Ichigo's fault. I TOLD him._

Orihime became confused. _Told him what?_

_Your spiritual pressure or whatever the hell it is has felt so off lately this has to be something to do with him and all his weird Death God friends and monsters and stuff since he just got his powers back I'm going to kill him and then track down his ghost and kill him again and if he gets reincarnated then I'll kill that Ichigo too and then I'll kill his ghost again do you get what I'm saying?_

By then, of course, they had gotten a whole entire new sheet of paper, but Tatsuki's rant took up most of it.

_No really it's fine! It's not his fault!_

_Oh yeah? Then why aren't you OK yet? When your whole entire arua or whatever starts to fell of then it's a good time to start looking into stuff. And Ichigo hasn't. He just keeps telling me sometimes that stuff happens? BULL SHIT! Nothin is ever that simple with you guys!_

Orihime was about to write back, but suddenly Rukia's pager went off. Ichigo and Rukia both sat bolt upright in their desks, their hands going up at the exact same time. "May I please be excused?!" They both shouted.

The teacher was used to it. "Yeah, yeah, take your time and all that."

They bother got up and bolted for the door.

Orihime sighed, looking out her window to watch the fight. The hollow was just inside the school grounds. She wondered why she never went out to hunt them.

In her mind, she sighed again, and thought to herself: _Oh, yes, that's right… I'm fragile, aren't I?_

She knew she sounded bitter, and she hated it too, but she just couldn't help it. They were all leaving her behind, putting her off as some sort of porcelain doll that they had set up on a shelf.

She decided she wouldn't tell them about Ulquiorra until she had too.


	19. Attracting Trouble

It was almost time to leave. To go home, where Orihime would take a long, long shower, maybe choke down a small meal, and then try to get to sleep. She was always so tired...

Tatsuki and Orihime had been passing notes all day. They finally got off the subject of her odd spiritual pressure and her crazy dreams at one point, and started talking about other things. They hadn't passed notes in a long, long time. It was sort of fun, Orihime found. They had to be sneaky. Of course, if the teacher caught them she might not really care all that much, but still.

Ichigo and Rukia had been popping out of there chairs and running off to kill hollows near the school all day. At one point, Ishida had started to join them because there were so many coming in.

Tatsuki tossed her the note.

_Why are there so many of those hollow things today?_

Orihime quickly wrote out her reply, _I don't really know._ And sent it back.

_Weird._

_Yeah. But really can't they leave it to the oficials or something?_

_I think Rukia is the official._

_Oh._

They didn't talk about why Ichigo always went, too. They both already knew that he went for her, not for the hollows. He also trusted her enough to actually let her fight, not that he could stop her if he tried.

_What makes Rukia so strong?_

It took Tatsuki a little while to reply. _I dont know. I guess she was just born like that. Plus you know, she's a soul reaper and all._

_Do you think that people who are born week can be strong?_

Again, it took Tatsuki a little while to reply. _Yeah. In fact I know it's possible. Just look at Ichigo. He didn't use to be able to take a punch._

_Do you think I could get stronger?_

Finally, she replied quickly, like she didn't have to think about it. _Yeah. You're just like Rukia- you were born strong. They only option you have is to get stronger. Just look at your spiritual pressure! I mean, when you left is was already really strong, but now it's way more powerful than Ishida's._

Orihime paused, reading the note over a couple of times. _More powerful than Ishida? _

_Yeah. Sometimes when you get a little spacy it shoots up to being almost as strong as Ichigo. And then the other day when you ran into that tree, right before you did, it was WAY stronger than Ichigo. That's what I've been telling everyone. Ichigo is being an idiot though so I really dont know what to do._

Orihime stared down at the note, shocked. Stronger than even Ichigo? That wasn't even possible. For one thing, Soul Society would have come to get her, wouldn't they have? Then again, with Ichigo's powers going crazy all the time they probably didn't even check on Katakuta town anymore. But for another, wouldn't she be drawing in tons of hollows?

**Beep beep, beep beep!**

Ichigo, Rukia, and Uyruu all shot up in their seats. "May I be excused?!"

Oh.


	20. Fade to Black

Orihime sighed to herself, her head in her palm. The air around her was heavy with the feeling of hollows- more powerful than average. Ichigo, Rukia, and Uyruu, had already ran out to take care of the creatures, though. So she just sat in the classroom, waiting for the day to end.

Tatsuki had stopped sending her notes just a moment ago, as they were working on a project and the young martial artist didn't want any homework. Orihime had found since returning she had been less and less motovated to do homework, or really much of anything else.

She stared down at the paper in front of her, trying to think her history homework into existence. Who was the shogun that had been seated when the feudal era came to an end? She couldn't remember...

She stared out the window, suddenly heavy with the feeling of lonesomeness. Tatsuki and Ishida were her two closest friends, and one of them was too polite to ask her what was going on, and the other knew but was more of a help-by-beating-people up person, and so there wasn't really much condolences towards her. She wished that she could just get over what had happened, but she didn't even know how to try. She had lost Sora, yes, but while he had stuck around as a ghost she hadn't been able to see him. She had been able to get over it after a time. But what did you do when you were being haunted by a ghost only you could see? Yes, Kisuke said he would be able to bring Ulquiorra back, but what then? He was still technically public enemy number one.

Then she had to think of Ichigo. How things would go like that.

She had loved Kurosaki-kun for so, so long. She had wanted to fall in love with him for five lifetimes. But after seeing all... all of him... she was afraid. He could turn into a monster that would easily stab his friends, roar and try to rip everyone apart. He had a monster living inside of him. No. The monster was a part of him. And that scared her. He was going places she couldn't go, anyway, leaving her further and further behind. It was frightening to know that one day he wouldn't need her at all; he would go up to Soul Soceity and stay there or become a full-fledged shinigami and have no time for her at all. She wasn't stupid, she had seen how he looked at Rukia. She was the only star in his sky, the moonbeam in the dark that he had wanted so badly.

She only ever held him back.

She looked out the window, staring at her friends as they killed monsters other people couldn't see. There were a lot of them, but Ichigo and Rukia made a good team together and had no problem. Uryuu had no problems out on his own, ether. He was used to fighting alone.

She looked out at the sky, which was quickly filling with rain clouds, though earlier in the morning the weatherman had called for clear skies. She heard a distant rumble of thunder. It was the rainy season, it seemed.

She blinked, and for a second, she was gone.

"Woman."

She breathed out a sigh, all of the heavy feelings fleeing from her lungs in a single puff of air. She breathed in the voice in her ear; that soft whisper that never wavered in strength.

The sky suddenly broke, and down poured the rain all around her. Her eyes opened to the sight of the rain beating against the window, the students in the classroom spooked by such a sudden downpour.

She could hear the rain, a loud patter, but then there was an intense sound like she was moving, all the little sounds around her stretching and pulling into the rain and building up until the noise all hit a pin-point.

A silent second.

_CRASH!_

Students started screaming, everyone running from the window that had suddenly shattered.

Orihime looked up in horror at the menos grande that had broke the entire wall in front of her apart, her eyes going wide, her pupils going small.

"Onna."

The world went black.


	21. Powerful Hands

Ichigo ran as fast as he could, a wave of shunpo flashing him to the location he was so desperately trying to get to. And yet, it still wasn't fast enough. He had heard when the Menos Grande broke through the barriers between worlds, it's roar filling the air as it suddenly tore through a wall of the school.

He had his own problems, though, and had to finish off the hollows surrounding him before he could go help anyone else. He clensed the hollows as fast as he could, flashing to the school just seconds later, but he still knew that no matter what happened it would take someone as fast or maybe faster than Yoruichi to make it there in time.

He was going to have to watch his entire class get blown apart by a cero.

His eyes widened, he watched as a wide-eyed Orihime looked up at the Menos. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion; Inoue was in the direct path of the cero. Even if she managed to put her shun shun rika up in time, she wouldn't be able to stop it.

He watched as suddenly Orihime's eyes slammed closed.

Everyone around her was running, screaming, Tatsuki the only one to run to the girl by the window. To most everyone else it had been an explosion, but Tatsuki could see the Menos.

The rain was pouring down, drenching him, making his clothes heavy and his skin ice cold. He felt like the cold made him slower; he was moving so slowly, one inch in an hour, a foot in a day. He could only watch the red ball of energy crackling to life in the mouth of the monster, aimed at his friend.

She sagged, like she had fainted, though Inoue never had been one to faint under pressure.

And just as soon as she had relazed her body, heading towards the floor, her whole body lined up. She stood with her eyes closed, shoulders back, head held high, chin up just the slightest. Cold and unreachable, and as dignified as possible. Her silvery grey eyes snapped open, her face blank. She looked strait up at the cero.

It was like the rest of the world had metled away, there was no school, or students, or hollow or cero. There was nothing but Inoue, calm and collected, stairing down a gaint red ball of energy that could turn her to ash.

"INOUE!" He knew his scream wouldn't reach her before the cero did.

_Rrrrrrrrooooooooooooo-STRRRRRRIIIIIii!_

Orihime just calmly lifted a dainty, porcalin hand up, as if to calmly shade her gaze from a ray of sun.

The cero came thundering at her, streaking through the air with unimaginable speeds, Tatsuki screaming just as she reached Orihime's side, screaming to run even though she knew they would both be killed.

And then,

Orihime caught it. She balanced the killing energy in the palm of her fragile hand, like it was nothing more than a small balloon filled with helium. She blinked, once, slowly, not looking at Tatsuki as the girl screamed, holding her hands above her head.

She flicked her wrist, just barely, like she was returning nothing more than a puff of air.

_**STRIIIIIIIIIIII!**_

Faster than before, larger than before, more deadly. The cero went sailing back to the sender, crashing into the right side of the hollow and dissolving half of the body.

Ichigo was so surprised, he stopped in mid air, staring in disbelieve. "Inoue?"

The hollow screached, it's roar shattering the remaining windows of the school and causing the earth to tremble. It started to fall back, intent on returning to Hueco Mundo to heal if it could, but it was just falling so slowly when compared to the speed of the returned cero.

Orihime calmly dropped her hand, unscathed, and then finally turned her head to the screaming Tatsuki. She looked at her in disdain, like the martial artist's fear was repulsive. And then she smoothly turned back to the hollow before her and lifted her hand again, her index finger extended, and let loose another attack.

Her Shun Shun Rika light, golden like sunlight, twirled around her finger, collecting and compressing into a tight ball as her attacking fairy spun around and around like it was weaving a ball of yarn.

When it was big enough to be considered a cero of it's own, black flicked around the edges for a second. Then, it went sailing up at the Menos.

There was another hollow wail, and then the monster dissolved into air, collapsing in on its self.

Orihime Inoue had just killed a Menos Grande with her bare hands.


	22. Someone Else

Tatsuki looked up at Orihime.

Tatsuki's hair was soaked with rain, her eyes wide and panicked. She didn't know what kind of monster it was that stood before her, she just knew it terrified her. It was huge, easily as tall as a skyscraper. It had something building in it's mouth, the heat from it so strong she could feel it from where she stood at Orihime's side.

"ORIHIME WE HAVE TO RUN!" She was screaming at the top of her lungs, tears building at the back of her eyes. She wanted so badly to run, but she couldn't just leave Orihime... Looking up then she could tell nether of them was going to make it.

She let a blood curdling scream past her lips, her whole body trembling. She wasn't scared of much, but the thought of drying so suddenly and confused terrified her.

Orihime didn't flinch as she flicked the thing away.

Tatsuki stopped screaming. She looked up at her best friend.

Orihime looked down at her briefly, her gaze cold and unforgiving, looking disgusted.

Then she looked away, back to the monster, and didn't flinch as she killed it.

All Tatsuki could think in that instant, shocked into silence, was that when Orihime had turned it hadn't been Orihime. That was the gaze of someone else.

When the monster fell for good, she stood, suddenly finding courage in the pits of her stomach. "Who... Who are you?" She demanded.

Orihime, the impostor in Orihime's body, turned to Tatsuki. Monotonously, she asked in a lower voice than normal, "Does it matter?" And with that, she went back to her undamaged desk and took a seat, gently laying her head down on the wood before falling asleep.

Tatsuki reached out, feeling with her other sense, the one she had just recently discovered she had. She felt Orihime's spiritual pressure, and then recoiled.

She knew that spiritual pressure.

"Arancar."

Just as soon as she said the word the pressure faded, leaving Orihime's slightly off pressure in it's place.

* * *

So. I would like to take this time to give a big thank you to all who have read and reviewed (and favorites and followed and all that good stuff). "THANK YOU!"

I should be able to continue with this regular updates, as I am getting my old computer back tomorrow. Yes, I am weeping out of happiness. Once again, thank you to everyone! I hope you all continuing to enjoy this.


	23. Waking Up

Orihime woke up sitting in her desk, her head resting on her folded arms.

She blinked, her ears ringing with a shrill whine. She blinked again and watched as a blurry world slowly shifted back into focus, the ringing disappearing and leaving the rush of rain screaming in her ears. She blinked again, tiredly, and sat up slowly.

She was cold. Like all of her blood had spilled from her heart and the rainwater had leaked inside of her until she was full and freezing. Her fingers were numb between the pulsing of blood through her veins. She licked her lips, finding her mouth to be dry despite the rainwater pooling over the surface of her desk.

She watched lazily as a drop of water slid down a strand of her orange hair, dripping off the end and plopping down on the desk. It joined the puddle there, becoming nothing, just another part of the whole.

She turned her head to look out the window, but that's right, there is no window at all and the wall is gone and the roof is gone and everything is just gone, gone, gone.

The wall was singed like a ball of fire had been shot through it, wisps of steam trying to weave around the rain. Each little tendril of smoke eventually became unable to evade the water, and was pounded down into the ash scattered all around the classroom.

It was like an old photograph. Everything was black and white and fuzzy.

Orihime looked down at her desk, to find it was still colored. It was a plain crème color with the initials of some couple carved into the uper right side and a couple of indents down towards the lower left. Her hands were pinkish, from the cold, and her hair was still orange. It was like everything around her had been sucked of color, a small bubble of space around herself the only things left untouched.

_It's all been turned to ash._ She thought. She blinked, her eyelids suddenly heavy. _All I want to do is sleep… but I don't want to dream. I just want it to be nothing. Nothing like everything around me. I'm so tired._

"O-Orihime?"

She turned around upon hearing the voice.

"Tatsuki?"

Tatsuki looked a little scared, which scared Orihime. It took a lot to frighten Tatsuki, so why did the girl look so pale?

She stood up, swallowing, putting on her brave face. Suddenly it was the tough Tatsuki, the one no one could land a blow on. "Is that really you, Orihime?"

Even though the question confused her, she tried her best to tell the truth. She searched deep inside herself, looking for fragments of Orihime, the girl she used to be. But when she tried to conjure up images of bubbly smiles and tales of princess and robots and aliens all she saw was a girl who had her face, someone so completely different she suddenly wondered if those were even her memories of all.

"I… I don't know."

She tried to pull up an image of who _she_ was, the person in Orihime's skin, but all she saw was a woman with wide, wide eyes watching with tears as a man who she loved bled all over the desert sands. All she saw was a woman who reached out to a man turning to ashes, a tattered white dress billowing around her form. All she saw was a frightened little girl, still trapped inside a castle full of monster while she smiled and smiled and smiled for all the ghosts of people who were her friends as they stood around her.

She saw a woman who had never really been rescued.

"I don't really know anything anymore, Tatsuki."

She saw a woman who was still nothing more than a prisoner.

"I just want to go home."

* * *

I have my computer back! So, here is the first update I've typed out on here! (Yes, I am very excited about having my own computer again.) Thank you so much again for all the reviews, I love them all! I hope everyone enjoys.


	24. Fear of Tamed Demons

This chapter may be a little intense, just to let everyone know, but I will post a softer chapter next time. Enjoy!

* * *

Orihime sat in her bed, the sheets pulled all around her body. She felt sick to her stomach.

She was so glad they had canceled school for the rest of the week. There was one good thing that ever came out of hollow attacks, and that was it. No more school.

She jumped when she heard Ichigo knock on her door.

"Inoue? Inoue are you home?"

She had dreamed of this. She had dreamed that one day her prince would come to her home, knocking on her door just to see her. She would run to the door and open it with a breathless smile, her heart fluttering as Ichigo walked across the threshold with a smile of his own. How she had dreamed.

"Inoue?"

Now she wanted him to go away. She wanted to be alone in her tower, because she was starting to realize that maybe Ichigo wasn't the prince she had always made him out to be.

"Listen, Inoue, I know you're in there… I can feel your spiritual pressure?"

She saw images of a masked beast roaring at a crescent moon, turning with eyes full of malice to sink his blade into Ishida's stomach. She could only shut her eyes as tightly as she could as visions of the hollow monster grabbing Ulquiorra and ripping off his limbs danced through her mind.

She whimpered, pulling her covers up over her head and pressing her eyes closed as tightly as possible. She pressed her hands over her ears and rocked back and forth slowly, her lower lip trembling.

"Inoue… Listen, if now is a bad time or something I can come back later… Can you just come answer the door? This is really important."

A muffled sob tumbled past her lips. The roar of the hollow filled her ears, that dreadful "I will help" repeating over and over again as blood flew through the air.

"Inoue? Inoue are you alright?"

Orihime felt a couple of tears start to course down her face, as it finally hit her how scared she was of Ichigo. She was not in love with him, she was not even sure she craved his friendship in that moment. She had been so, so, so infatuated with him. But she had suddenly realized that image she built up was just a bunch of day dreams and imagined images strewn together to create some perfect prince charming in her mind.

In reality, she was terrified of him on some days.

"Inoue…?"

"I'm fine!" She sobbed, holding her stomach. It felt like she was going to be sick. "Please come back later, I'm not out of bed yet!"

She heard him mutter, "But it's the middle of the day…" before he yelled back to her, "Okay! I'll tell Rukia to come by in a little bit, she wanted to come anyway, but had to file some report or something anyway… Uh, see you later…"

Orihime didn't reply.

She jumped from the bed and ran to the bathroom, just barely there in time to heave into the sink.

She continued to quietly cry as she watched Ichigo tear her friends apart and kill over and over again in her mind, unable to look away.


	25. Once Loved

Orihime sighed, feeling better, flopping back onto her bed. She dressed up in clean clothes- a light blue summer dress that danced around her knees. She felt better, much better than she had earlier that day.

After taking a shower so hot the water left her a little pink, she knew it was time to pull herself together. She had washed her face several times, and then had taken time to dry and brush out her hair before putting on her makeup to cover up her puffy eyes and slightly red nose. She had then gone in search of some of her favorite garments, finding that dressing up nice always made her feel a little bit better.

She took in a deep breath, finding the air to be breathable again.

She was expecting the knock when it came, sitting up quickly and yelling, "Yes?" to the door.

"Orihime? It's me, Rukia! Can I please come in?"

"Yep! Hold on just a minute!" Orihime hopped up and hurried to the door, unlocking it and opening it for her friend.

"Hello." Rukia said with a smile. "Are you feeling better? Ichigo said you sounded sick."

"I'm fine now." Orihime half-lied. She wasn't fine, but she wasn't as bad as she had been. "Would you like to come in?"

"Yes please. After all," Rukia suddenly lost her big human smile, a gentle but business-like one left in it's place, "There are some things we need to talk about."

Orihime fought back a frown, smiling a sticky-sweet smile as brightly as she could. "Okay! Come right in!"

Rukia walked in, still smiling, and Orihime suddenly had to wonder when she had become closer to Rukia than she was to Ichigo.

She fought back another wave of dizziness and shook away the thought. After all, they had things to discuss.


	26. Talks of Shadows

I'm so sorry about not updating yesterday- fanfiction wasn't working for some weird reason. So, enjoy two updates for the day.

* * *

Rukia stared at Orihime, still unable to believe it all. Orihime was looking away from her, her bottom lip pulled in between her teeth. She looked pale, Rukia noticed. A little thinner than usual. She looked, really, like she should have in Los Noches. But when they had shown up at the palace she had only been a little thinner, and she had a healthy glow about her like they were taking good care of her. Her wrists had been small, her fingers thinner, like she had just recently started to gain back her health, but she had looked alright. But now she was simply starting to waste away.

How had they not noticed before?

Orihime was just always so happy, smiling brightly, her eyes sparkling with a light whenever she saw Ichigo. Rukia had thought she had been fine, rescued and taken back to her real home. But after hearing it all, she realized that Orihime really wasn't okay.

"I'm sorry I didn't notice before," She told her friend quietly, shifting in her seat, "You're just always so happy, I thought… well, I thought you were alright."

Orhime forced a smile- she could now see that's what she always did- and titled her head to the side. "It's okay. Your weren't supposed to notice… I don't want anyone to worry about me."

"But you told Tatsuki."

She gave a delicate shrug. "Tatsuki noticed." She let her smile fall a little for a second, looking away again. "And Tatsuki worries no matter what, anyway. Not telling her would have made her even more worried."

Rukia nodded. "I see."

Orihime looked back at Rukia, her eyes pleading as she lightly bit into her lip. "You… You won't tell-"

"You're afraid of Ichigo, now, aren't you?" Rukia interrupted her.

Orihime looked down, ashamed. "Sometimes."

"Are you still in love with him?"

She paused. "I… I thought so, at first. But… the more I think about it… the more I'm sure that I'm not."

Rukia nodded. "I see." She said again.

"So you won't tell him?"

The shinigami woman shook her head, smiling lightly. "No. I'll make something up, he doesn't need to know everything."

"Thank you, Rukia."

"It's no problem. The idiot has enough on his plate already anyway." She said.

Orihime couldn't help but notice how when Rukia said 'idiot' it sounded like a term of endearment. She looked, really looked, at Rukia. "Rukia-san… I, um, I know I asked this before but… Are _you_ in Love with Kurosaki-kun?"

Rukia blinked rapidly, both surprised and caught off guard by the question. Slowly, her face relaxed, a small smile and light blush blooming across her face as she looked off to the side. "I suppose I might be, just a little."

Now it was Orihime who nodded and said, "I see."

Rukia looked back up at Orihime. "Is that okay? If you are still in love with him, I can push aside my own feelings. I mean, it's not like he would return my feelings anyway, we would never work."

Orihime shook her head. "No, no. It's him and I that would never work together. You're the only one that knows how to handle him." She laughed a little. "And besides… I've seen the way he looks at you, Rukia. He really likes you. I've never seen his real smile except when he looks at you, as much as it used to pain me."

Rukia smiled lightly. "You're a good friend Orhime. I wish I could have been there for you."

"It's okay."

"I have one last question… All of this, the ghost you've been seeing… who is it?"

"I think you already know." She timidly answered.

Rukia frowned a bit. "I guess so. All the more reason not to tell Ichigo. He'll go crazy if he finds out…"

Orihime let out another breathy laugh. "He would, wouldn't he?"

Rukia shared the laugh, standing and smoothing out her dress. "Well, thank you for talking to me, Orhime. If you ever need me, just know that I'm here for you. But you are strong, I know you can handle it."

Rukia really did know just what to say.

Orihime breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much, Rukia-san."

"It's no problem. I'll see you later, okay? Your friends have invited me to go out to karaoke or something like that later tonight. Are you going?"

She smiled. "Yeah… Yeah, I guess I will."

"See you then."

The door quietly shut behind Rukia as she left, leaving Orihime to her thoughts.

Maybe everything really was going to be okay.


	27. Talking to No One

Orihime looked at herself in the mirror, turning her head left and right.

She really was getting skinny… she needed to eat more. Being as small as a model, she found, didn't make you look good; it made you look sickly and unattractive. She wanted to get back her regular waist, the one that all the other girls had.

She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, fighting back the small wave of panic that was rising up inside of her. She really didn't want to go out.

"It will do you some good." She whispered to herself. "Have fun while you're still young, Orihime!" She took in a deep breath and pushed both of her arms back and forth a couple of times, trying to get herself into the mood to go out on the town.

She looked out the window, her breathing steady again, and saw the sky was clear. No rain, the weather man had been wrong yet again. The sky was a dusty blue, the color of Tatsuki's hair. There were no stars, just a lone airplane off to the corner of her sight, but the moon was big and bright.

"You look good." Someone said beside her.

She didn't look over. "Thank you." She breathed.

"You are frail, woman, are you not feeding yourself?"

"I'm just not hungry anymore."

"It does not matter. You will eat."

"You're not in charge of me anymore, remember?"

A long stretch of silence.

Thinking maybe he had left, Orihime turned her head to the left. But no, there he was, observing her from the shadowy corner of her room.

"Do not presume to think that just because I am no longer your caretaker that you are allowed to let yourself waste away, woman. You will eat, and you will take care of yourself."

She looked away.

"Are you going?"

She nodded a little. "Yes…"

"Will the shinigami woman be with you?"

"Yes."

"Good. You are leaking spiritual pressure; it would not be safe for you to go out alone."

"What's protecting me here?" She asked. "You shouldn't be concerned about me being in danger going out when I'm just as defenseless here."

She could have sworn she heard him sigh. "I did not imply you were defenseless, onna. I was simply stating it would be more safe for you to go with another person whom was able to fight."

"Well then I'll ask again, why does going out make me less safe?"

"I am here, am I not?"

"You're always near me."

"But it is harder for me to protect you when you are around others."

"Why?"

"I was there that day at the school, do you not remember?"

"That's not the answer to my question."

He really did sigh then. "I do not know the details, unfortunately. I simply find it harder to assert my presence when you are around others."

She turned back to him, frowning. "That doesn't make any-"

_Knock, knock, knock! _"Orihime! Are you ready to go?"

She looked towards the door, then let her eyes fall back on the man in the shadows. "I'm going now."

"So it seems."

"You should… um, go."

"I will."

"Goodbye?"

He didn't answer, he just gestured towards the door with a pale hand.

She nodded, getting that he was telling her to just go already. To the door she yelled, "Coming!"

When she looked back towards him, he was gone.

She got out the door and locked it behind her.

Manhana asked her, "Who were you talking to Orihime?"

"No one." She answered, because there really was no one there.

"Oh."

"Yeah." She said, because even though it didn't make any sense she had to reply somehow.

"Let's go then!"

"Okay."

She looked behind her one last time, searching for any green eyes in the shadows, but she didn't see anything.

"Stop looking for me." A voice whispered in her ear. "Pay attention to your _dear _friends."

She made a point of not answering him and didn't send a second glance to a shadow after that.


	28. Dark Tinge

Just a little warning- this chapter is a little darker than usual. Nothing bad, just feeling wise. So, you have all been warned! If you're disliking all this angst just know it WILL be getting a little lighter soon. I won't drag Orihime through this depression the whole story, don't worry. (P.S. If you would tell me what you think about these chapters, that would really be awesome.)

* * *

Orihime sat quietly, sipping at her orange soda.

"Ah, I haven't had this much fun in ages!" Rukia said loudly, trying to raise her voice over the music. That or she just didn't realize she was yelling because of the alcohol she had consumed. "I have never done this before!"

Chizuru gasped. "Whaaat? You've never done karaoke?! Get up on the stage right now, you _have_ to try it!"

"Okay!" Rukia slid from her seat and walked in some sort of squiggly line up to the stage, having already seen a better part of the group go up. Some song came up, and she started singing loudly into the microphone, looking like she was having the time of her life.

The girls started cheering, little hoots and cat calls coming from them as they yelled things like, "Yeah! Go Kuchiki!" and "Alright Rukia!"

The spotlights around the room were rotating, circles of purple, pink, yellow, and orange spinning over the surface of the room. The room smelled like the strange pink fruit drink that some of the girls had ordered, the one that had gotten Rukia a little bit intoxicated.

It was unbarably hot, the body heat from everyone in the room trapped under the low roof as the speakers blared different songs and equally off-key voices all over the room. A crowd of people somewhere behind her- a large group of people -went into hysterics, laughing and screaming as some guy got up on the stage and drunkenly spouted out the lyrics to some song from the 70s.

Rukia finished her songs, doing a little twirl and wiggle up on the stage as the girls all cheered for her.

Orihime took another sip of her pop, looking down at the chipped wood of the table they sat at. There was something sticky coating the edge just to the left of her spot at the table, so she kept her hands in her lap most of the time.

"Hey, Orihime, why don't you go up there?" Tatsuki, one of the only other sobers, asked her. "You used to be the best of all!"

"Yeah, go on Orihime!"

"You'll be so cute!"

"You should do it!"

"Go on, Orihime!"

Orihime felt a blush rise to her cheeks. "Um, I, uh, don't know…"

"Oh come on, Orihime!" Manhana slurred. Just how many drinks had she had? Moreover, how had they even managed to get alcohol underage? "Puh-Leeeeee-zu!"

"Um, okay." Orihime timidly stood up, shuffling up to the stage as the group all hooted behind her, yelling words of encouragement.

She made it to the stage and started to sing, on key and steady, though she wasn't really into it. Her smile was wide and forced and the little dance she did was simply a re-play of one she used to do at their karaoke parties in the past.

She found the room to be horribly loud and stuffy. Someone opened up the door, and a breeze blew in carrying heavy plumes of cigarette smoke, the smell mixing with the strawberry drinks and coating the air with a smell that made her want to vomit.

She felt a bead of sweat roll down her already-sticky neck and wiped at it, ignoring the one trailing down her forehead.

She finished the song and practically ran back to her seat.

"Great job Orihime!"

"You looked like you had so much fun!"

"You should go again, I can tell you like it up there!"

Orihime fought back the tears her head-spitting headache was giving her. Smiling a watermelon smile and nodding her pounding head like she was having the time of her life. "Oh, thank you! But I think Rukia wanted to go again?"

Rukia noticed her fake smile, even through her drunken haze. "Yeah, that sounds great!" She popped up again, tottering off to the stage.

Orihime just sat there, and laughed and laughed and laughed, all the while her head pounding so hard she woundered if she would split in half.

Behind her, the other group of people roared with laughter as the man singing fell off the stage, spilling a couple drinks and then vomiting onto the floor.

Orihime felt bile rising in the back of her own throat.

"It's been fun, but I think I should go home." She told her friends.

"Aw, you have to go already?"

"Can't you stay a little longer?"

"Don't leave Hime-Chan!"

She laughed. "Sorry, but I really have to go. I have enough money to hail a taxi."

"Okay."

"See you later then."

"Bye!"

Orihime got up and practically ran for the exit, making it out just in time to spill the contents of her stomach out onto the side walk.

A hand lightly graced over her back, holding back her hair as she continued to hack up her guts. She looked up and found emerald eyes staring down at her coldly.

"You did not mention you would be going to a location so hazardous to your health." He berated.

She smiled weakly, wiping her chin. "Going out is just code for going somewhere that's going to make you sick."

"You are a fool."

"I know."

"Go home woman. You need to sleep."

"Actually, I was thinking that maybe I would pull an all-nighter. You know, I have a test tomorrow and-"

"You are afraid to sleep? Onna, nothing could be more frightening than that place." His eyes flicked back to the doors she had burst from, turning his gaze back to her to give her a cold glare just after. "Go home and sleep."

"But-"

"This is not a negotiation. You will go home, and you will sleep."

She blinked tiredly. "Fine." She stood, brushing away his almost transparent hands. "But only because _I_ want to, not because you are telling me to."

"Your reasons do not matter to me."

She didn't reply, finding that it was often just a lot easier to ignore him. Instead, she continued towards the sidewalk, her hand held high in the air as she signaled for a taxi.


	29. Done With Princes

Orihime woke up sometime in the late afternoon, the sound of thunder in the distant calming. The air was cool around her, the light streaming from her window a faint grey-blue. She turned on her side, snuggling further into the pillow and smiled faintly as she watched drops of rain slowly roll down her windowpane.

She took in a deep breath through her open mouth, closing her eyes again as she burrowed further into the warmth of her bed sheets. They were soft against her skin, the light pink blankets wrapped around her like a protective cocoon. She smiled faintly and breathed in the scent of her coconut shampoo, the faint smell constantly clinging to her pillowcase.

She contemplated getting up, but wasn't pressed for time, as she did not have school for the day. She supposed she should probably go to work; she had just recently gotten a job at a bakery near by. She could make extra if she went in for the days she didn't have school, and then maybe do something nice for herself sometime later on in the week.

She was thankful to find her mind-crushing headache from the night before had faded away in the night. She had a stale taste in the back of her throat that tasted a bit like the cheap orange soda she had drank, despite the fact she had brushed her teeth upon getting home and then once again after her shower.

The taste was enough to motivate Orihime to finally get up out of bed and do something; namely brushing her teeth and getting a glass of water again. That, and she needed to use the restroom and eat…

She managed to untangle herself from the covers, stumbling out of bed and then hopping up and down a couple of times to get her leg freed. Finally she was free of her bed, so she made her way to the bathroom attached to her room.

Orihime's legs erupted in goose bumps just walking forward, her nightgown not doing much in the way of warmth. She stepped into the bathroom, letting out a little noise as her feet hit the cold tile floor. She hopped up and down, quickly grabbing her toothbrush and spreading toothpaste over the bristles before jumping back out onto the carpet.

She brushed her teeth, then changed and did her hair. For the day she decided she would just pull her hair up into a pony tail, donning grey sweats and a yellow long-sleeved shirt for the day.

Breakfast was a simply bowl of cereal, which she ate in silence. She did the dishes, wiped down the counter, and then decided she might as well clean the whole kitchen since it had been a little while since she had.

She had just gotten to the stove when the phone rang.

She contemplated letting it just ring, but then thought that maybe it would be a friend needing something or someone wanting to talk, or any other number of things. She threw her gloves off and ran for the phone, snatching it from it's cradle just before it stopped ringing and answered it.

"Hello?" She breathed into the phone.

"Hello, Inoue-san."

"Ishida!" Orihime plopped down on the floor, her legs folded beneath her. "You called me!"

"You sound surprised."

"You're not really the phone call type." She admitted.

"I see. Well," his voice suddenly sounded just a little nervous, "You're right about that. So, um-" Orihime's eyes went wide. Ishida never said 'um'. "-how about we go to the park so that we can talk face to face? I hear that there's going to be a performance there later on."

"It's raining." She pointed out.

"Well, yes, but you seem to like waking in the rain so I thought-"

It then hit her. Ishida was trying to ask her out on a date.

Suddenly her good mood crumbled, her heart falling in her chest. Ishida was such a good friend. She knew that he would have been one of the best boyfriends anyone could ever hope for. Really, probably even better than the Ichigo boyfriend she had once imagined. But she only saw him as a friend. And, on top of that, if she were to even try to be his girlfriend… she would feel sick the whole time. She would be betraying him.

"-is that alright with you?" Ishida finished.

Orihime paused. What should she say? Yes? He hadn't _said_ it was a date. He could be asking her as a friend to just go for a walk. As a friend. But… it didn't sound like that. It sounded like a date Ishida had carefully planned out, as was his manner.

But if Orihime was one thing, she was kind. She was kind, and she was honest. "I'd actually really like to, Ishida." To make her position clear, she added, "It's been a while since I've gone to the park with any of my friends. It sounds fun!" She stressed the word _friends _as clearly as she could.

There was a bit of a pause on his end. She knew he was intelligent, he would understand what she was saying.

"Alright, should I pick you up around two then?"

He didn't really mind, she found. He really was just a really great guy. A true prince.

"Thanks, Uyruu."

It was too bad she was done with princes.


	30. The List

"You are going out again."

Orihime looked over her shoulder, a little confused to see that Ulquiorra was mostly transparent, standing at the foot of her bed.

"Yes."

He narrowed his eyes slightly, moving a single step forward. "You are going to another environment hazardous to your health, are you not?"

"I am not!" She spun around, her hands on her hips. "I'm going to the park! Yeesh."

"The park?"

"Yes, remember." She turned back to the mirror in her room, continuing to brush out her hair. "It's where you and I met. You and Yammy made a huge crater there."

He nodded once, she saw in her mirror, and then look away with an icy expression.

"Why?" She asked after a moment.

"I do not have to explain myself to you."

"Is it just me," She asked with a smile, "Or did you get sassier a ghost?"

"I have always been a 'ghost' as you say, woman, as you never met me alive."

"Okay, a ghost-ghost then."

He didn't answer.

"Anyway, you don't have to worry about me."

He looked up, his face telling her he was about to tell her, 'no, he was not worried about her' but she never let him.

"Ishida-kun is coming with me. He asked me out, actually. It was really nice of him, considering how down I've been lately…"

Ulquiorra looked on through narrowed eyes at Orihime, suddenly looking a little bit suspicious. "The Quincy?"

"Yep! So I'll be with someone else who has spiritual powers."

He looked away sharply. "I do not see why you feel you must bring him along woman."

"You seemed plenty happy about me going out with Rukia."

"The shinigami woman is… different."

She looked up, at little bit surprised. "Why?"

"She is a female."

"What? Why is that different?"

"It simply is, woman."

She didn't reply for a second, thinking to herself. Then she glanced up in the mirror again, back at her see-through visitor. "It's not like Ishida would take advantage of me." She told him. "That's the only thing I see that could be different. And really, girl can take advantage of girls, so there's really no difference."

He blinked once, and then tightly frowned. "I see."

"Anyway, are you coming with me? I mean us?"

"It is not like I have a choice."

"So that's a yes then?"

"…"

"Great! It'll do you some good to get out of the house."

"I could say the same for you."

"Hey, you locked me in a room for months, so don't even go there."

"Is it me, onna, or have you grown more 'sassy' since your return to the world of the living?"

She bit back a smile, looking up to rebuke. Man, give a guy a heart and suddenly he was telling jokes. "I think you're the one with the sass mister sassy pants."

"Your accusation is of no value, seeing as I am not currently in possession of any pants, much less those of sass."

She opened her mouth, still a little shocked that she was having a verbal sparing match with Ulquiorra- the man of maybe two words a day- when there was a knock at her door.

She jumped, waving her hands around. "Hide!" She yell-whispered.

He gave her a blank stare. "I am not able to be seen by your friends, woman. Besides which, it seems that as of today my physical manifestation is weaker than-"

She ignored the rest of his speech, sprinting to the door and throwing it open with a friendly smile. "Hello, Ishida-kun."

He gave her a smile. "Inoue-san."

"Hold on one second, I just have to go put on my shoes. You can come in if you want."

Orihime turned and rushed back into her room, in search of her sandals.

"You did not mention it would only be the two of you." A disapproving ghost muttered.

"Oh, come on, don't be like that." She pouted, groping under the bed for any trace of her shoes. "You've met Ishida."

"I do not recall."

She straitened up, giving him a look from across the bed. "You tore his hand off." She said dryly. So, maybe she _was_ feeling a little sassy for the day. Hey, that was better than depressed.

It seemed to suddenly come to Ulquiorra. "Ah."

"Oh, sure, now you remember." She rolled her eyes- though still sported a big smile, and ducked back down to search further under the bed. She felt another stray dust bunny, then a crumpled piece of paper… she would see what that was later… an old sock… Ah! Finally, her sandal. The other one was in her attached bathroom if she remembered right.

"It is not a simple task to store away every face that I have encountered." Ulquiorra told her as he stood there, watching as she ran past to the bathroom.

"Still!" She yelled from the other room, looking around for the shoe. "You could at least try to remember the faces of people you've tried to kill!"

"… That is still far, far too many Onna. Unless you are meaning the faces of those I have failed to kill, and that would be a total of two."

"See! He's on the list!"

"I was not attempting to kill him."

She popped out of the bathroom. "Then who's the second?" She asked. She knew the first already.

"Yourself."

"You never tried to kill me!"

"I instructed Yammy to kill you on the day I met you, and you are still standing. Therefor, you are on the supposed list."

She frowned at him. "Aw! You can be so mean some times, Ulquiorra-kun."

Behind her, she could have swore she heard him mutter, "I liked it better when you were preoccupied with your despair." But then thought she must have made it up in her head.

She slipped on her shoes as she hopped into her living space, still smiling.

"Ready to go?" She asked happily.

Uryuu nodded, turning away from the picture of Sora he had been looking at. "Of course."

She started towards the door, but was stopped by another question from Uryuu.

"Inoue?"

"Hmm?"

"Who was it that you were talking to in your bedroom? Is Matsumoto staying with you again?"

She shook her head, her smile softening a bit. "No." She turned back to the door, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Is was just talking out loud, is all." After all, it wasn't a lie. She _had_ been talking out loud.

Uryuu nodded. "I see. Shall we be going then?"

She nodded, picking up an umbrella from beside the door. "Yep!"

Ishida lead the way, holding the door for her, as he stepped outside.

She followed him out into the rain, finding he had left his umbrella outside her apartment since there was a slab of roof that shaded all the doors. She looked back a couple times, searching for viridian eyes in the shadows.

She wondered why she was disappointed to find none.

* * *

I got a request for a lighter chapter; plus someone wondering about a sassy Ulquiorra. And so, this happened. Enjoy the peace while it lasts, we all know how I do love my angst. Anywho, I do hope to see reviews. I really do love hearing from everyone. Thank you for sticking with me so far!


	31. Keep Smiling

The rain around her was like a curtain, something put between herself and the rest of the world. A low mist rose up over the ground, hiding her feet. It was chilly outside, but she had wore her long-sleeved red dress, the one with the little white collar and cuffs, with a streak of the color coming from the hem of her dress and up to the side. Her feet were covered in moisture from the fog, slippery in her sandals.

The air smelled wonderful, though, like the freshness of a waterfall and the cleanness of the rocks washed beneath the downpour. It made small rainbows shimmer in the air, the light around her blue and gray. It was one of the reasons she loved the rain so much; it clung to the sky and the ground, connecting the two, bringing everything in the world together if only for a moment.

She had always aspired to be the rain.

Though, looking down at her hands clasped tightly around her umbrella handle in the moment, she wondered if she could ever hope to connect anyone when she had blood staining her hands. The cool slickness of the rain that people drank in so eagerly was very different from the sand she swore she still left between the sheets.

Ishida didn't try to be anything but friendly with her, as she had known he would, because he was just too nice.

She was glad.

Ishida didn't deserve her because he deserved someone much, much better.

"You seem lost in thought." He commented.

"I'm just thinking." She lied with a smile. "I'm still here."

_I'm lost._

They continued their walk down past a huge creator in the grass, like a giant had put down its bowl and left it there to have I covered with dirt and plants and life.

She saw for a second a real giant eating up the souls of everyone around him as he stood above the bowl in the ground, so it wasn't such a far-fetched simile.

"Would you like to see the performance? I don't think it's been canceled." He asked.

"Of course!" She lied with a smile. "I'd love to."

_I can't stand anymore acting._

Orihime wondered how on earth she could have gone from being so happy that morning and back into the dark place she had crawled from, but didn't try to dredge on it too much.

Instead, she concentrated on the feeling of the droplets of water dancing just out of her reach, dripping down from the sky to slide of the brim of her umbrella and then crash down to earth. She watched as the water all disappeared into the grass, which had gotten greener over night it seemed. That was how things were in the world, something beautiful fell from the heavens and the earth soaked it up as quickly as it could, until suddenly there was nothing left but a stronger earth. It was just like Hueco Mundo, she realized. A kill or be killed world, just on a lower scale.

It was terrifying just how well she saw the horrors of the world then.

But still, she smiled like she always would.

If she didn't, who would?


	32. Life and Death

Orihime sat down on the dry seat on the inside of the coffee shop that Ishida liked so much, the one he had asked her to come to all that time ago.

She flexed her fingers under the table, trying to convince herself they weren't as bony as they looked. She could practically see her hands turning into that of the menos grande; all bony and white. The air around her was filled with the feeling of decay; a hollow was near by. She felt the spiritual pressure of Rukia and Ichigo, though, so she didn't mind so much. She just hoped it was a regular hollow hey were fighting so that it could finally stop being so full of misery and go to the Soul Society.

Orihime wondered in the back of her mind when she had learned so much about death being alive.

She ordered a Panini sandwich, something she had never tried. Ishida said it was a little different, but that she would probably like it as long as she selected her own 'sandwich guts' as the server called them. She asked for ham, mustard, cheese, lettuce, bananas, tomato, peppers, and olives. The waiter was a little surprised, but promised that her food would be out shortly after the cherry soda she ordered.

Orihime sipped on her pop and wondered why she kept ordering such sticky sweat treats when she didn't even like them anymore, but then considered that she was doing that with her life all the time anyway so it didn't matter very much.

She smiled another sticky sweat treat of a smile for Ishida when he said he would be right back, he needed to go back into the kitchen to make sure they didn't put any something-or-another in his drink again. Yes, Ishida was allowed in the kitchen, the owners let him come back whenever he wanted. On a side note, he would be working there starting next week.

Orihime nodded, giving him a genuine congratulation on the job, and looked down at her lap to watch her fingers ring around each other as he left.

"You are very quick to change your mood."

She gave up a small shrug. "I guess."

"Why are you not honest with him?"

"Because honesty would hurt him. I would never hurt my friends."

"Do you not stop to think that perhaps your lying would be more painful?"

She looked up at Ulquiorra in surprise. He was sitting in Ishida's deserted chair, looking cold as usual.

"Did you not perhaps consider that you are not only a terrible lair, woman, but that they are able to tell? You are a fool, casting off such blatant falsehoods and fabrications. You say you do not wish harm unto your friends, and yet you bring them more pain by acting as you do than you would were you as honest as you once were."

She looked back down at her lap, a brittle smile bittering her features.

"It's easier this way."

"It is not."

"It is for me."

"You continue your dishonesty."

"…"

"So why, woman?"

"Why do you care?" She asked quietly.

"I care to understand." He answered.

She took in a breath of air, still not looking at him, and whispered. "You think they can tell, but there aren't many who can. Ishida can. Tatsuki can. But what am I supposed to do? Cry on their shoulders because I'm _sad_? I want to be happy like I was, and maybe acting like I am is the first part of going back to how things were."

"You cannot change what has happened, woman. You may only adapt."

She considered that. Quietly, she peeked up from under her eyelashes at Ulquiorra, who looked so alien in that coffee shop with his huge wings and swishing tail.

"Is that why you stay in that form?" She asked, suddenly curios.

"No." He answered with a bit of a frown. "It is you who keeps my like this, simply because you cannot move on from the past."

They both turned their heads at the same time, hearing Ishida yell something in a friendly tone to the workers of the kitchen as he came out.

When Orihime turned her gave back to Ulquoirra, he was gone.

Ishida sat down in the vacant seat, smiling faintly. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

She considered putting up her big smile, the one she loved to fake so much, but then thought about what Ulquiorra had said. So, for once, she forced herself to believe it would hurt him more if she pretended and gave the tiny smile she felt like giving.

"It's okay, you didn't keep me waiting." She told him honestly.

He looked up at her, eyes a little wide, and she realized then that he had not expected her honesty. His face melted, a released smile stretching over his face. "I'm glad." He said. And really, he was.

Orihime wondered in the back of her mind when Ulquiorra had learned so much about life being dead.


	33. Heartbreak

Getting home, Ulquiorra- for some reason- had been a little snappish. After she got home from her 'date' with Ishida he had been waiting for her. Standing behind her door when she walked in, his casual scowl put in place, she swore that if the had been in another life he may have had his hands on his hips. In short, he did not look pleased.

She imagined him saying, "You're late woman." Or, "You were out for quiet a while." But instead, he said, "…"

"What?" She had asked after getting over the initial shock of seeing him.

He turned his head to the side, looking off towards her bedroom. "It is nothing."

"No, really. What is it?" She looked behind her and waved goodbye at Ishida, then closed the door behind her and turned back to Ulquiorra with eyes asking him to spill.

He didn't hesitate to think up his answer in a way that would be sugar coated like her other friends would. He told her exactly what he was thinking."You confuse me."

"You're giving me that look because you're confused?" She leaned against the door, pulling off her sandals. They slipped off easily; her feet were still a little wet. She would need a shower later….

"I am not giving you a look." He challenged her. "I am simply looking at you."

"Uh-huh." She crossed her arms, giving him a look that she had learned from Yoruichi. "Aside from the look, explain to me what exactly is confusing you."

"Your very nature."

"Aw, you always say things like that." She pouted as she shed her jacket, which she had actually stashed in Ishida's car- she was still amazed to think he had a car- and put it up on a hook by the door. "You pretend to be all specific, but really you're being completely vague. It's no fair!"

His eyes followed her as she moved past him, her form breezing right by him as she headed towards the small kitchen at the edge of her apartment.

"You act kind towards others, and yet to yourself you are uncharacteristically harsh. You despise being dishonest, and yet you lie about certain things as if it is the natural thing to do. You enjoy odd things and do not fall into the same taste as the rest of your race and you do not react in kind. Where others would react with hate or distrust you do not. You are not into your acts for yourself, but rather for the benefits of others, which you do not gain from in any way. You are, in essence, the very definition of confusing."

She looked over her shoulder from where she had been stirring some instant ramen and vanilla pudding together. She smiled widely, for real this time, and gave a small laugh. "None of those things are confusing!"

He said nothing. He simply allowed a frown to tug at the corner of his mouth, leaning back in the doorway to the kitchen with his wings partly folded in, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Besides," Orihime continued, stirring the dinner she had prepared one last time, "Sometimes people are just nice. And we _do_ gain something from it."

It seemed she had caught his attention, as his head quickly turned to stare her down.

"It feels good to help people!"

He seemed to become irritated with her all over again. "I fail to understand what it is you are going on about." He quickly bit out. He followed behind her as she walked to the table with a steaming bowl in hand. "A _feeling_ is the premise for your actions?"

"Yep!" She stuck her chopsticks into her dinner and popped the loaded utensils into her mouth. "Mmm… D'you wan sum?"

He stood before the table, still looking irritated. "You are quick to change the subject." He noted.

She shrugged. "I thought we were done talking about it is all. What else is there to say?"

"Tell me your true intentions." He demanded, his eyes narrowing. "Why is it you act as though you must do good for others, strangers included."

Through another mouthful she told him, "Er erlredy toad yome." She swallowed, and then repeated. "I already told you."

"A feeling?"

"Mm-hm."

"That is all?"

"Sometimes just because I want to."

He paused, still staring down at her in hopes of catching a lie. "… You must be defective in some way."

"You know, I think Rukia said the same thing to Kurosaki-kun once-"

"That is another thing. You so easily cast your heart of to those who do not recuperate your affections. Do you not care for your own self or are you simply a masochist to allow yourself to fall for someone who would not have your heart."

She shrugged. The sting of the words wasn't as painful as she would have thought them to be. Rather, it was simply as if he was asking her a question about the nature of the rabbit or something as equally quaint. He was only curios and confused. "Well, you don't really have a choice. When you fall in love with someone…" Her cheeks tinged a light shade of pink. "You just do. There is no stopping it, no matter what. You can get over them and move on, sure, but you can't pick and chose."

"Then how do you avoid destroying yourself? You would be wise to ensure that you never again feel anything. The heart is truly existent, I realize, so what you have just told me is impossible. That would be self-destructive. How would one go about having their heart healed? Furthermore, in what way would the heart be wounded?"

For this question she paused. Carefully, she placed her chopsticks down on the table, standing and smoothing out her dress. She walked around the table, until she was standing right in front of him.

"It…" She started, her eyes looking a bit distant. "It's called heartbreak."

He looked down at her, unmoving. "So I am correct in assuming the heart would indeed die."

"Yes…" She reached up and placed a hand over his chest- right on top of that gaping hole that went strait through his body. "It's like there's an aching, bleeding hole that's been punched right through your chest." She slowly looked up from his torso and into his eyes, her frown one of sorrow rather than displeasure. "Sometimes you can't move on… and you die from heartbreak."

He blinked, a little bit startled, and then quickly grabbed her wrist. He threw her hand away from his chest, and then was suddenly gone.

He had run.

She left her hand hanging in the empty air, wondering just how long it would be until she felt something solid there again.

In her chest, her own heart throbbed. Whether from pity or pain she wasn't sure.

Secretly, she was just glad she had been able to move on.

It looked like in some life or another, he hadn't.

* * *

So, I get a little crazy with my headcannons, I'll admit it. But voila, there you have it. BY THE WAY! I have noticed, surprisingly, that I'm getting a lot of reviews for this story... So, of course, thank you so much to everyone! I really do love those reviews. And, as always, the hundredth reviewers get prizes! He or she can select one of the following:  
1. A one-shot request that I will write out for them. Or,  
2. If he/she has a story published, I will take a look at it and review, plus give a shout-out to that story. Or,  
3. dedicate a chapter to them + write them a small prose or poem. It can be for anything, fanfiction, original work, whatever. Up to them.

If you have any ideas for other prizes, let me know because I can add it to the list if I like it. Thank you all again! I hope you continue to enjoy!


	34. Finally Living

Wow. 100 reviews. Guys, you are all the best! Anyway, today's chapter is dedicated to Whalefriend. (Who, by the way, also wins the 100th reviewer prize) Thanks again!

* * *

"Okay, I think I'm ready."

"Uniform?"

"Check!"

"Hat piece?"

"Check!"

"Stockings?"

"Check!"

"Your hairpins?"

"Double check!"

"… Your wallet, woman?"

"… I _knew_ I was forgetting something!"

Orihime had woken up at nine in the morning, promptly, having gone to be around twelve that night.. She had eaten a small breakfast; just a bowl of cereal mixed with tuna and a glass of orange juice with hot sauce in it.

Ulquiorra, of course, had been there the whole time, even when she had gotten home. Admittedly, he was much more conversable in the morning than in the evening; she found that out as soon as she had awoken.

The night had eventually been resolved when Ulquiorra showed up in the middle of her action movie on TV- sitting far, far on the other side of the couch with his wings tightly scrunched up, looking intently at the television like it both had all the answers he needed and all the problems as well. She had looked over at him at one point when he made some sort of noise in the back of his throat.

"It's pretend. He didn't really jump over that alligator."

"That much was painstakingly obvious." He had replied.

To herself Orihime had muttered, "Now who's avoiding the subject?"

Evidently, he heard her. "I have had enough talk of hearts for the remainder of the night."

She didn't say anything, but she scooted over to his side of the couch like she could extinguish both their lonesomeness by being just barely physically closer. Her pinky crept along the couch until it just barely brushed his side, at which point she stopped and withdrew her touch. He looked over at her from the corner of his eye, and she just gave him a small smile.

"Do you like movies?"

"This is the first time I have seen one." He paused, frowning just a bit when a huge explosion took up the screen. "And I positively detest it."

"This one isn't very good… I think you might like some. Like the crime shows and stuff. I don't know."

He dipped his head once; a nod.

Once the movie had ended she had bid him a goodnight, and headed strait off to bed. She had peaked her head out into the living room once, but he had disappeared again. Back to inside of her? How did that even work? She hoped his soul was just chained to her own or something similar; she didn't like the idea of someone being in her head. He had already proved that possible once, and while she was grateful for him saving her, she would rather not go through the process again. Though she had a sneaking suspicion that it would, in fact, happen at least once more for some reason or another, that was just her luck…

When she had awaken, he had been waiting by the table for her, watching as she made her breakfast.

"I've decided to go to work." She told him.

He, true to form, did not comment on it.

"I'm really scatter-brained this morning, so I'm not sure if it's a good idea. What do you think?"

"You will be fine, woman."

"My name isn't woman, you know."

Once more he didn't answer- instead he just quietly watched her eat.

She decided to go on, talking in between bights of her breakfast. "Oh, okay, I've just had an idea. You're really good at being collected! Why don't I give you the list of things I need while I still have it in my brain and you can remember it for me."

"… Fine."

"Okay. First of all, I need to get ready. I have to wear my uniform, which has stockings, the actual uniform, and a little hat. Um, then later on after work I need to go to the grocery store and get some things to eat."

"How will you pay for your purchases?"

"Oh, my wallet! Of course, I always forget that."

He nodded once.

He had remembered all the things she had told him, not to her surprise, and even the things she hadn't; like her hairpins.

"I think I'm ready."

"Then let us depart."

With a firm nod, she grabbed the doorknob handle and pulled open the door, sunlight hitting her face.

She smiled.

She was really moving on.


	35. Real Smiles

Orihime burst into the front door of her house, sighing in relief as she unloaded her groceries onto the table before her. She wiped her hand over her forehead, turning around and locking the door.

"Not able to carry the groceries all in one trip." She mused to herself. She grabbed a leak from her plastic bag, holding it in the air like a sword. "No one doubts Orihime Inoue and her legendary grocery-bag carrying skills!"

As he walked past her Ulquiorra muttered, "You are rejoicing for something that does not even require a second thought."

She frowned, pursing her lips, and dropped the leak back onto the table. "I have some real skills! You've got to admit, it's impressive that I can carry that much in one trip. It's like it's my superpower or something. From now on, call me-" She struck up a dramatic pose with a huge smile, "Grocery Girl!"

"Considering you have powers to rival that of a god, woman, I would think the simple fact that you are able to carry a few bags would not be the most admired of your skills."

"You can be such a downer sometimes, Ulquiorra-kun."

"I was merely stating a fact."

"In a mean way."

"I did not address you in any way that should be considered hurtful."

"But your tone was meanish."

"Mean-ish?"

"Not really mean, but a little bit mean."

"You made that word up."

"No, it's a word! Other people use it!"

"I highly doubt that, onna."

"It's true!"

Orihime was in a good mood. It had been an all-around good day for her. She had made a good amount of money for the day- a lot extra since she had put in so many hours. She had given one of the other girls who worked there a much-needed break, too, so she had felt really good about working all day.

She had taken a short break for lunch, in the back, munching on a loaf of bread smothered in bean paste. It had only lasted five minutes, and then Orihime had eagerly thrown herself back into her work.

Then, after work, she had gone grocery shopping. She had then managed to walk home without even once dropping her bags; thus proving the cashier to be wrong. Pssh. To think that he ad thought she needed help with her bags. Orihime had spent years mastering her bag carrying skills!

Then, of course, there were the added bits of Ulquiorra all through out the day. He seemed to like to pop up when no one was around and give her little blurbs of information. It was a good thing, too, or she might have made the order for a strawberry cupcake into an orange one earlier that day, and then at the store forgotten mustard.

She had really just enjoyed the day, and was feeling like she was starting to become her old self again. Not the childish, ditzy Orihime, but the happy one. The one she had finally found in herself sometime to another.

Throughout the day a couple of hollows had sprung up in her senses, but Ichigo and Rukia were always right behind the hollow, the sinister feeling dissipating moments later. She found that she didn't feel guilty like she used to; she didn't feel like she was worthless and letting them risk their lives for her.

No, her many days in a room behind bars had taught her she was strong. She no longer had to worry about those thoughts of being useless, though every now and then she still doubted herself. It was in her nature, she found, but it wasn't a bad trait. It made her strive to be better. She was just glad that she was able to stop constantly doubt and put herself down. No, she wouldn't do that anymore. She had found herself and her strength in those days locked up in the desert.

"What do you want for dinner?"

"I do not eat."

"Oh, yeah, but what should I make anyway?"

"… Perhaps something edible."

She turned and gave him an incredulous look. "That's not very helpful, Ulquiorra."

He gave her a deadpan stare. "I never intended for it to be."

"Then why even say something?"

"You asked for my opinion. Further more, it seems to urk you when I do not say anything."

She considered what he had said. "Okay, so you _do_ have a point…"

She made more idle talk with him as she prepared her food, put away groceries, and then ate. He actually sat with her as she consumed her meal; crossing his legs and then letting his wings splay out. She mimicked his position- minus the wings- and held a bowl of strawberry-peach yogurt covered rice under her chin as she scooped her meal into her mouth.

Like always, he seemed intrigued by her humanity, and asked about that. Really, he seemed very interested in her and her emotions, and appeared to want to learn more.

"Why do you become upset when others are hurt?"

She licked her lips. "Well, mostly because I love them-"

"You become concerned for strangers and their pain."

She smiled a little bit. "I guess I do, huh? Well, it's sort of hard to explain. But it's like when I think about what they feel, I can't help it. I wouldn't want to feel that way, and it tears me apart to know they do."

"But it does not affect you so why should it matter?"

She shrugged lightly. "It shouldn't, I guess. But I just find that I really care about a lot of people, and I love doing it, too. It's not something I can logically explain, because it's just a part of who I am. It's like asking me why I like wasabi on my ice cream when others like chocolate syrup. I won't gain anything from the wasabi, but I still do it, simply because I like it."

"That still does not make complete sense, but I am able to see what you are trying to convey."

She nodded, happy, and went back to eating her rice.

While washing her dishes, he stood back in the doorway to the kitchen and asked her, "Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"You are making noise with your mouth and throat. It is distracting."

She stopped, looking over her shoulder. "What? Humming?"

"If that is what it is called."

She smiled again, laughing a little bit as she turned back to her dishes. "I hum because it makes me happy. I love music, and I like to make my own, even if it's not very good and just really small." She hummed out part of another tune, one she often heard on the radio. "See? You can play songs you've heard and remember what you felt."

"It is irritating."

She smiled wider, though she didn't show him. "Yeah. I don't know what it is, but I don't really like to hear other people hum ether. But I like to do it myself. You should try it."

"It is pointless."

"You know you want to."

"…"

Orihime wiped her hands off on a towel, being careful of the uniform she had yet to change out of and turned around, leaning back on the counter. "Go on."

With a resigned sigh, Ulquiorra frowned and looked away from her. After a moment, a deep hum sounded out in the room, low and rich. His tune didn't vary for a moment, it was just one long drawn out note.

Orihime ignore how pleasing the sound was coming from him. "Waver a little bit. Change your pitch and use different notes."

She was pretty sure he only wavered three notes up and down from the one he had started with, but he choppily hummed out what she thought sounded like the beginning of a song.

"See? Don't you like it?"

He stopped abruptly.

"What? What's the matter?"

He blinked. "It would seem I have a tune stuck in my mind, but I have never before heard it."

Orihime smiled again. "That happens to me a lot, though usually I've heard the song before."

He blinked again, almost looking confused. "I have not heard this before, to the extent of my knowledge, and yet it is like I have know the notes for a great portion of my existence."

"That just happens sometimes."

"It is strange."

"In a good way?"

He scowled; well, as much as a scowl Ulquiorra would give. "It is extremely annoying."

She giggled, walking past him and heading towards her bedroom. "And it happens all the times to us humans."

"It is no wonder you are such idiotic creatures," He muttered as he walked behind her. "You must have an extremely difficult time functioning with such a distraction at the back of your minds."

She full out laughed then- a real laugh that felt good tumbling from her lips. It started in her throat and she just kept laughing until the sound was coming from her stomach, something that hadn't happened to her in a long time.

When she finally calmed down she turned around, beaming as she leaned against the doorframe to her room. "You're funny!" She declared. She giggles a little again. "You-" But her giggle had thrown her a little off balance, so Orihime's words were cut off as she gave a sharp "Eeep!" And fell from the doorframe and to the ground, landing hard on her rear.

He looked down at her, seemingly unamused.

She just started laughing again.

It felt good to laugh. It had been a while since she had, and she found she really missed it.

She had missed being so happy.


	36. When One is Happy

Yuka watched with wide eyes as her neighbor, Orihime, bounced out of her apartment, locking the door behind her. Yuka had lived in the apartment complex a lot longer than the young orange haired girl, but when the woman thought back on it she couldn't really recall a time when Orihime hadn't been there. The girl was sweet, and kind. She had a good heart and soul with a smile to match. Weird things often happened around the girl, and she had been gone for several weeks almost a year ago.

Orihime had recently been depressed, Yuka had noticed, no longer bounding about with a smile but quietly and dejectedly unlocking her door and slipping in with worn eyes.

A couple days ago, things had started to get better though. Yuka was so relieved; it had been painful to watch such a person as Orihime become so sad.

She was still surprised, though, when she happened to catch Orihime bounding out of her apartment that morning though. She had simply been eating her breakfast eggs by the open window and caught sight of the young girl…

"Alright!" Orihime cheered, locking the door. She pretended to loop her arm through someone else's, beaming broadly. "Operation 'show-Ulquiorra-kun-the-wonders-of-the-human-world ' is a go!"

She turned her head to the imaginary person she was attached to, smiling.

"Aw, don't be like that! You're going to love it! Maybe we'll even go to the park!"

Yuka just shook her head, watching the young woman bound away with her imaginary friend. She was such a strange young thing. But hey, if it made her happy, who was she to judge?


	37. Savoirs

As it turned out, Ulquiorra couldn't manifest when there were many other people around. As soon as she had gotten into a busy part of town he had started to vanish, to her slight panic, but he had assured her that it was normal for him. He also told her he would be there the whole time, but that she wouldn't be able to see him. He described it as an out of body experience, like he was just a floating consciousness, but Orihime was still put out by the lack of a body next to her.

Operation show-Ulquiorra-kun-the-wonders-of-the-human-world was a no-go.

So, instead, Orihime went to work again. She worked all day and then went home a little early so that she would have plenty of time to do a couple of things before dinner in the evening.

She was happy to count down in her mind how long until Ulquiorra would get a body: just nine days to go.

She figured she could put off the mission until then.

Inside her room, Orihime changed into a pair of sweats and a light blue T shirt, pulling a brush through the hair she let down.

She suddenly stopped.

"Ulquiorra?"

He didn't appear right away, but after a second he was suddenly standing beside her. "What is it?"

She felt her face flush red as she slowly turned her head up to look at him. "Wait a second… if you can still see and hear things when you're body isn't around…" She looked at her uniform, discarded in the corner of her room. "… Does that mean that all this time… you've just been silently letting me get dressed with you around?" her face went beat read with the implication.

He might have blushed, if he had blood. As it was, he looked sharply away from her. "You do not change in out in the middle of the public, do you woman? It is quite simple for me to place myself outside of your bedroom when you desire to change clothing."

Slowly she felt her blush reseed. "Oh… thank goodness. That would have been so embarrassing!"

He said nothing.

"Anyway, I've been wondering. Can you pick things up?"

In answer, he reached out and grabbed her brush holding it up for her to see.

"Wow! That's so cool!"

"Hardly. I am unable to pick up any object if I am not within five feet of yourself, and never if there is anyone else in the immediate vicinity."

"Still, though, it's kind of cool. I mean, you are supposed to just been a ghost!"

"Do I need yet remind you-"

"A ghost-ghost." She amended.

Again he did not reply.

"Can you do things, though?"

"Like what, woman?"

"Like…" She looked around, before finally just settling on the brush in his hands. "Like brush hair?"

"I would not know."

"You should brush it!"

"Objects in the real world do not have much affect on my currant body." He informed her.

"No, I mean, you can brush my hair! You can hold the brush, so why not?"

"… I suppose, but-"

"Yay! Here," She sat down on the bed, patting the spot behind her. "you can sit down behind me."

"I never said I would-"

"Please?"

Ulquiorra thought he was immune to any, and every, type of Orihime's attacks. He had failed to realize that she had attacks outside of her shun shun rika, he found, as suddenly he discovered that she could do something with her eyes that was so compelling he could not help but move to sit behind her on the bed and begrudgingly brush the woman's hair.

And he had thought that becoming her babysitter was as low as she would bring him.

"You're good at this." She commented. After a long pause, she added, "You could be a hairstylist."

"As if brushing your own hair is not humiliating enough."

"You don't like it?"

"It is odd."

"Odd like…?"

"I am an espada." He deadpanned. "I do not brush hair."

She giggled. "But you do it so well!"

"Do not try your luck, Onna, or you will find yourself without company for the remainder of the evening."

She had just laughed softly again.

Then, after a moment, she softly spoke. "Thank you."

"It is no trouble, you could easily do it yourself."

"No, not for that…"

"Then for what?"

"Thank you for saving me."

After a long pause, he answered, "It is you whom saved me."

"I guess we can call it even then?"

"I suppose."

* * *

Review replies and PMs may not happen today- I'm feeling really sick and I need to focus on my schoolwork. Thank you all so much anyway, though, and I'll get to replies tomorrow, possibly. I hope everyone enjoys!


	38. Countdown: Eight Days

Orihime silent countdown reached 8- just eight days until Ulquiorra's gigia would be ready for use. Suddenly, she wasn't so sure she was eagerly awaiting the day, because didn't having a body mean he could just leave her alone?

She decided to not go into work for extra hours for the day. She felt she should spend as much time with Ulquiorra as she could.

She woke up at nine and showered, dressing in a light blue sundress. She came out into the living room and smiled when she found him lounging on her couch; something she hadn't thought she would ever see him do.

She had just opened her mouth to ask him a question- _Do you think you could pick me up_ – as she had just noticed his wings and wondered if maybe he could fly her somewhere in the night, when there was a knock at the door.

Orihime looked over at Ulquiorra, as he looked up at her. They shared a silent dialog.

Orihime: "I'm not expecting anyone."

Ulquiorra: "That doesn't change the fact that there's someone at the door, chicka."

Orihime: "I don't want to answer it."

Ulquiorra: "Well, too bad for you. Your house, your door, your life."

Well, that's how it went in Orihime's head, in reality it probably would have gone a lot different, though the end result would have been the same.

Orihime walked up to the door, looking out through the peephole. She saw tanned skin, golden eyes, and dark purple hair. She looked over her shoulder at Ulquiorra, dreading the fact that she was probably there to tell them that Kisuke had outdone himself again and had gotten the project done way ahead of schedule.

Reluctantly, she opened the door.


	39. Headband of Justice

So. Here's the deal. Yesterday I accedntally posted chapter 40 instead of this one, 39. It's all sorted out now, sorry for the confusion!

* * *

"Oh, Yoruichi, it's so good to see you again!" Orihime said with a false smile.

"You don't have to act like you're happy to see me," Yoruichi mused with a smirk, "I can tell you aren't."

Orihime blushed, fumbling over her words. "It's, uh, I mean, I am glad to see _you_ and all but, um, I mean-"

The cat-woman laughed, shaking her head. "I get it, I get it. Here." She handed Orihime two white headbands with small blue circles in the middle. "Don't get all upset, I'm not here to tell you Kisuke outdid himself. For once it looks like he's actually going to follow schedule."

Orihime really did smile then, her shoulders sagging in relief. "Oh, thank you. Um, but what are these?"

"Like I know." She shrugged. "Kisuke said it has to do with separating you or something like that, I'm not really sure. He said you just put it up to your head and yell 'headband of justice: activate' and then it will do the rest."

Orihime lifted the white band up to her head, pinning Ulquiorra's between her arm and body. "Headband of justice! Activate!"

A flash of light told Orihime Yoruichi had taken a picture. The woman pocketed the camera, not looking amused. "Alright, now that I've gotten that for Kisuke, let me tell you how it really works."

"That's not how it really works?" Orihime had thought that, knowing Kisuke, that really was how it would work. The man was pretty goofy; she wouldn't put it past him. "Oh…"

"Sorry about that, it's just something he does for no reason. He did it to Ichigo, too, if that makes you feel any better." Yoruichi smirked. "The real way to get it working is to just put it on before you go to sleep. And if that espada is around give him his, too."

"Yeah, he's over on the couch."

Yoruichi looked over her shoulder, nodding, though it was clear she couldn't see him. "Did you get all that?"

Ulquiorra didn't answer.

Orihime laughed a little, but knowing he had she said, "Yes, he got it."

"It's weird not being able to see him…" Yoruichi muttered to herself.

Orihime laughed lightly. "Yeah, it is, huh? Well, is that all you need? If you want you can come in; I was just about to make some breakfast."

Now, Yoruichi had heard of the nightmare kitchen that resided in Orihime Inoue's kitchen. Not only did she know that fish would be severed with cherry sauce and marshmallows, but she had also heard that even a simple bowl of rice would be topped with things that most certainty did not belong in the dish. Yoruichi was brave, but if there was thing she didn't play around with it was food.

"Oh, thanks Orhime, but Kisuke needs me back at the shop." She smiled brightly, waving her hands. "I'd better be going now, have fun with your gifts!"

Orihime watched as Yoruichi bound off, flashing from roof to roof as she headed back to the Urhahara shop.

"I wonder what that was all about."

Ulquiorra just shook his head.


	40. Pleasantries

Alright. So. Here's the deal, yesterday I accidentally posted this chapter. Well, this is chapter 40, yesterday was SUPPOSED to be number 39. Sorry about the mix-up. Everything is sorted out now!

* * *

Orihime knew that tomorrow would mean she would have to return to school. Tomorrow she would spend the day at home, then lay her clothes out for bed, and in the morning to follow she would have to get up before the sun and hurry to school. And- she realized with a creeping sense of dread- that she would soon be graduating.

She worried a bit, standing in her apron in the back of the bakery, that she didn't know what she was going to do with her life. She had spent a long time in a castle cooped up with no hopes of the future that she hadn't though about it. Then, getting back, she had been concentrated only on picking up the pieces of her life and putting them back together. Briefly after that, schoolwork, and then the whole fiasco with Ulquiorra's sudden reappearance in her life.

She hadn't really had any time to think on the future.

She was glad she hadn't, though, because as she rolled out another piecrust she began to feel a kindling of unrest bubbling to life in the pits of her stomach. She had so much to think about without Ulquiorra added to the puzzle, but after she factored him in…

She finished with work for the day, pushing her problem to the back of her mind. She thought that there was no use worrying over things that she couldn't fix in the time being, so she decided not to worry about it.

"I'm home." She said to the air as she walked in, dropping her bag and shedding her shoes.

If she had expected a reaction she didn't get one.

She looked up to find Ulquiorra standing with his wings spread out, taking up most of the room, his arms hanging limply at his sides. He looked like he desperately wanted to cram his hands into his pockets, but he had none, and that seemed to make him even more frustrated.

"Hi." She said, feeling a little awkward.

He again didn't say anything.

She sighed. "Okay, so it's like this. I come home, and I yell, 'I'm home!' And then you say, 'welcome back' or 'how was your day' or something like that to recognize that I'm back."

He just stared at her.

"And," She went on, straitening up from taking her shoes off, "When someone says hi you say hi back."

The corner of his mouth tugged down ever so slightly. He obviously didn't like getting orders from her.

"Ready? Let's try again." She turned around, facing the door, and then popped back to face him. "I'm home!" She yelled happily.

"… You have returned without falling prey to the many dangers of your world."

Well, it was better than nothing. "Um, well that's a good start, but not so long." She spun around again. "I'm home!"

"You are not dead. Rejoice." He deadpanned.

She giggled. "No, no. Just say that I'm back or something. Ready? One last try." _Maybe_. "I'm home!"

"You have returned."

"Yay! That works! Great job, Ulquiorra-kun!"

"Do not refer to me as-"

"Now," She interrupted him. "let's try the other one." She looked down at her feet, then back up at him with a large smile. "Hi!"

"… Hi."

She giggled again. It sounded so odd coming from Ulquiorra.

"I do hope you realize that once I have been put into a temporary body I will not be subjected to the same reactions with anyone but yourself."

Translation: _I'm still going to be mister grumpy pants_- oh, yeah, no pants- _mister grumpy fur to everyone else. _

"Okay, okay. It's nice of you to do it for me, anyway." She took off her little vest and hat so that she was just in her dress, padding off to the kitchen as was per usual.

"What should I have for dinner?" She pondered, shuffling through her cabinets.

"Perhaps the food you prepared last night?"

"Oh, leftovers?" She went over to the fridge, opening it up and grabbing the thing of food. "Good idea." She popped it into the microwave, humming a little tune until the ding that told her that her meal was heated.

She happily strolled over to her table, sinking down and sitting cross-legged as she munched away at her dinner.

He sat across from her, watching.

Orihime tried to think up conversation. "Ulquiorra?"

He looked at her expectantly.

"Um… I was wondering." She stopped eating, pushing her food around with her chopsticks. She had been worrying about it earlier; she decided she might as well get it off her chest. "Um… well, when you're done regenerating inside the gigia… um, what will you do?"

"It would make sense for me to return to Hueco Mundo."

"Oh…" She looked down at her plate, pushing all the food over to the right. "But, do you _want_ to go back to Hueco Mundo?"

"If there is something you mean to say, than say it." He said calmly, not one to beat around the bush.

She nodded once. "I was just wondering because… well, I sort of like having you here. I'm so used to having people over that it's sort of lonely when no one is here…"

He didn't reply for a moment, seeming confused. Then, after a while, he opened his mouth. He closed it. He opened it again. "You desire my company?" He finally asked, looking almost bewildered.

She nodded a little. "I guess so. You're not really a bad guy, once people get to know you. You're actually really nice to have around, I think."

"You are the first to think so." He muttered.

She looked away.

"Woman, you do realize that your friends all despise me?"

"Well-"

"I have punched a hole through the chest of the man you once turned your affections too, ripped off the hand of one whom you are closed to, and in entirety am responsible for your misery and despair."

She licked her lips. "Well, none of that really matters anymore, does it?"

He froze.

"The war is over. It's… it's really over. We're not enemies anymore. We're just… people."

"No, you are human and I am-"

"Not." She finished. "So? Kurosaki-kun is a person and Rukia-san isn't. They're different."

"The shinigami woman did not attempt to kill his friends, nor did she imprison him."

"So? What if she had? What is she had orders to? Would that change who she is?" Orihime swallowed hard. "In the end you're all just soldiers. No matter what side you're on someone's going to get hurt. Rukia's killed hollows. You've killed hollows and Soul Reapers. Soul Reapers tried to kill Rukia. Does it really matter anymore?"

Ulquiorra continued to stare at her, his eyes wide.

"It just… everyone's against everyone at some point. Ichigo tried to kill Renji! Renji tried to kill Ichigo! But they're really good friends. And Kuchiki-sama almost let Rukia died, but they both love each other very much! Renji locked Rukia up! They're still friends. I just… none of that matters, okay?" She wiped at her eyes, though no tears fell, and took in a breath of air as she settled down. "I… I just…" She sniffed. "I just don't think that in this world we live in people can be judged by their actions. Because sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do. I think… I think people should be judged by who they are. By their hearts."

For a long moment, a strong silence stretched through the air.

"Fine."

Orihime looked up, blinking in surprise.

"When the time comes, if you still wish so, I will stay."

Orihime felt a smile creep to her face. "You… You will?"

"Yes," He sighed. "It is not like I have any other obligations or places to-"

"Thank you!" Orihime launched across the table, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thank you so much!"

He blinked, startled, holding his hands out in confusion. Slowly, though, he lowered them to awkwardly pat her shoulders, trying to subtly push her off. "It is no hassle." He muttered, realizing his breath stirred the hair spilling over her shoulders. "You do not need to thank me…"

She drew back, still babbling on about how excited she was, getting up and walking all around the apartment as she talked about all the things she was going to do.

Ulquiorra didn't notice.

_What… was that? _He wondered to himself, frozen on the spot. _She… was warm. _He reached back to his neck, feeling traces of her heat. _Warm and soft._ He blinked. _She smells like fruit. _He realized.

He blinked again, trying to follow her movements as she bound around her apartment.

He watched her hands and arms, remembering their warmth.

_That was… pleasant._

Maybe staying with her wouldn't be so bad after all.


	41. Falling From the Sky

Orihime slept with her new headband on, giving the other to Ulquiorra before crawling into bed. She pressed her fingertips to the cool material, wondering just what it was for.

(~o0o~)

Orihime looked around her. She was up in the skies of Los Noches again, Ulquiorra holding her to his chest.

"Where are we going?" She asked him.

"I do not know." He answered.

She watched the ground moving below them, listening to the sound of his wings beating at the air to keep them afloat. Los Noches went by in the blink of an eye.

"I do not feel right." Ulquiorra muttered.

She turned to him, concerned, to see his gaze was far, far away. "What's wrong?"

"I do not know." He said again, but just as he did the plummeted from the sky.

"ULQUIORRA!" Orihime screamed, her eyes going as wide as plates as tears flew up into the black sky.

He tiredly spread out his wings, catching them, and flapped a couple of times, trying to land. He hit the ground, his wings coming up around herself and him in a protective shell.

Orihime coughed, her mind reeling, and spit sand from her mouth. She pushed against his chest, his wings opening up and falling limp and the sand. She blinked, looking around, and gently shook Ulquiorra.

"U-Ulquiorra?" She patted his cheek lightly; her heartbeat escalating. "Ulquiorra?!"


	42. New World

So. I have to go to camp for a week. No wifi. No computer. So! I have employed my darling parents (thank you guys!) to update all the fanfiction I quickly wrote out today. Expect a lot of short chapters, but the once a week updates shall continue. So, for now, enjoy my crazy past-life thing. Even though I'm going to be gone, as soon as I get home I will reply to reviews. I can't wait to hear from you all again! Goodbye!

* * *

Orihime heard a feminine laugh behind her and stood, spinning around.

She gasped.

She looked around in wonder, the sands gone, and felt her mouth drop open.

She was in some sort of palace- a great manor like she had never seen before. Just behind her the open walls showed a garden with a huge pond and lanterns, and before her… It was magnificent. Soft music played as women in men in the most gorgeous kimonos socialized. She felt like she had been sent 700 years into the past, like she had stepped into a party from her textbook pictures.

Orihime looked up to a stage, her attention directed there by some noise, and felt her eyes go wide. Rukia sat on some high seat, her lips shining red and her head held high. Her eyes were a different shade than usual; more blue the violet. Her robes were long and flowing, light reflecting off of them like water, colors of red and gold splashed across the cloth. Her hair was pinned up and decorated with golden flowers huge combs with golden threads that held tiny stars on the outsides of her head. She looked like royalty.

Orihime squinted, catching something shifting in the shadows just beyond Rukia's throne. Her eyes widened again when she found Ichigo standing there, in his shinigami robes. No one else seemed to notice him, though Rukia looked back and smiled faintly before once more turning to coldly gaze out at her visitors.

Ichigo looked… different. He had a scar on the right side of his face, just above his chin. It stretched up and stopped just bellow the corner of his mouth. She also noticed that his sword was different, hanging at his side. He didn't look that different other wise.

_What's going on?_ Orihime thought.

"Princess."

The room stopped and looked over at a man who had just burst into the room. His long hair hung around his face, spilling over his armor plated shoulders and down to the middle of his back.

Orihime was again surprised; this man had dark, dark red hair that was almost red, and yet he was still Renji. Long gone were his tattoos, and his shinigami robes. He looked like a high-class samuri.

Everyone in the room parted before him and he hurried up to the throne Rukia sat on, kneeling and placing his right fist over his heart. "I apologize for interrupting, Lady Yuki-"

"Speak your mind, Ruijin." She said calmly, though her tone was stern.

Ichgio took a step forward, sitting beside Rukia, or Yuki as she had been called. He scowled down at Renji, Ruijin, and leaned over brood with his head resting on the arm of Rukia's chair.

"He is here, princess."

Rukia sat up strait, her eyes going wide. "You mean to tell me-"

He nodded hurriedly. "Daseki approaches."

Rukia looked over to a bunch of other samurai who were standing against the walls, motioning for them to go. "Quickly! Go out to him! See if he was successful in retrieving her."

Orihime crept closer, curios. What was going on?

"Yes, Yuki-sama." They all chorused, running out of the room.

"Ruijin, make a place on the floor. I must see what condition she is in."

"Forgive me, but-"

"No!" She stood from her throne, her ropes swooshing around her petite form. "You shall do as I say. She is my best friend. I will not idly stand by when I could be bringing her words of strength." She looked out to her party guests. "I am sorry to inform you all that you must be departing now. Thank you for attending, but I am afraid you must all be leaving."

The people next to Orihime turned to one another.

"Do you think that the young princess is still alive?" The woman whispered to her friend.

Grimly, the other answered, "I doubt it. You know how the Neko is. He's not one to let his prisoners leave alive."

"But Daseki went after her. Surely-"

Once again the second woman shook her head. "It is unlikely she has come back alive."

"He must be so heartbroken." The woman mourned.

"Indeed. Indeed."

Orihime reached out a hand, meaning to tap the woman on the shoulder and ask her what she was talking about, but her hand passed strait through. She drew back in surprise, looking down at her skin. She reached out to another person passing by, but once again to no affect.

_What is this?_

Everyone quickly cleared the room, leaving just Rukia, Renji, and Ichigo. Renji quickly set out a futon, white sheets raining down over the pallet.

It was silent.

Suddenly, Renji spoke, looking down at his finished work. "Yuki… do you think that she'll be alright?" He asked, suddenly not so formal. "She was gone for a whole week."

Rukia sighed, looking out at the pond. "I don't know." Her eyes narrowed. "But if this is the same man who stole away my sister, than I do not have high hopes."

Renji nodded solemnly.

"Ruijin."

Renji looked up.

"I will not lie to you. From the moment she was gone I counted her dead. I have mourned her already, as I will continue to. But… I must think, what if my brother had not passed away from illness? What if he had been here to see his wife stolen away? I have no doubt that he would have died from that."

"What are you saying?"

"I am saying that you should brace yourself for the leave of the young lord."

Renji bowed his head. "Surely Daseki would not perish-"

"You have not seen the way he looks at her if you would be so foolish as to think that."

Ichigo took a step forward, his hand reaching out to grab Rukia's shoulder. She turned before he did, looking him in the eye. "What is it?" She asked calmly.

Renji looked up again. "That… that death god is here? It is a bad omen."

She ignored him. "Do you bring me news, Kiba?"

He looked away sharply. "They're coming."

"Who?"

"The beasts you saw a moon ago." He answered. "The hollows."

She blinked, startled. "Wha… What for?"

He looked back down at her, his eyes telling of his anguish. "They can sense a dying soul."

The front door suddenly flew open, a samurai leaning in. "Princess, the young lord-"

"Let him in." She commanded. "And do not accompany him. Bring me the doctor!"

"The doctor? You mean… the gypsy lover?"

"Yes, that is the one. Now hurry!"

"Yes, Yuki-sama!" He ran, leaving the door open in his wake, seeming to stop with wide eyes only once before departing.

Rukia and Renji both gasped.

"D… Daseki."

* * *

This is all a part of her dream, in case you were all wondering.


	43. Daseki and Hana

Orihime carefully took a step forward, her eyes widening.

Blood pooling beneath his feet, Ulquiorra stepped into the room, his face blank. He held someone wrapped in black to his chest, carrying the load with a hand beneath the person's knees and one at their back. Whoever they were, his or her head rested on Ulquiorra's heart.

Orihime sucked in a breath.

He wore the clothing of a wealthy warrior, though his helmet- so familiar in appearance- was cracked. His long black hair escaped from it, falling just below his shoulder blades. His eyes were the same, his face just barely paler, but his tearstreaks long gone. His eyes lacked their luster, but the color was still there; his strikingly beautiful jade irises.

He took another dead step into the room, his eyes far away. "Please."

Orihime's heart leapt up into her throat. She had never heard so much emotion in his voice. Never so much despair or anguish.

"Please," He reappeared, "_Help her_."

He fell to his knees, blood flecking the floor as he held the woman to his chest.

Renji ran to his side, holding Ulquiorra's shoulder to keep him up. "Do you wish me to take her-"

"NO!" He held her tightly, grunting loudly as he pushed off of Renji and forward more. He had made a trail of blood to the futon laid out in the middle of the room, managing to just barely get to the side. "You cannot take her from me."

Carefully, almost lovingly, he put his bundle down on the futon.

Orihime felt tears well up in her eyes, her hands covering her mouth, as she knelt down on the other side of the bed, too.

Beautiful earthly brown hair spilt over the black cape, the tips stained with crimson. The cape slid completely off the body, revealing no one other than her very reflection, the only alteration being the shade of her hair.

Orihime watched with huge eyes as Ulquiorra- Daseki- leaned over another her. The body she wasn't in. A woman who looked just like her. She watched as he ran the back of his hand over her pale cheek, a gentle caress.

"Hana." He breathed.

Weakly, Hana lifted her hand and held loosely to his hand. "Daseki." She said quietly, though her tone was happy. She panted heavily. "I can hear you." She breathed out.

Orihime looked over the woman's body in horror. Her beautiful robs had been slashed through, her stomach stabbed all the way through. Her skin was turning pale, small beads of sweat sliding over her limbs and then disappearing into the sheets beneath her. Most terrifying was the slashes on her temples, blood dripping down from the wounds and turning the hair almost cinnamon color. Very close to the color it was on the actual Orihime.

The door flew open again, and in ran none other than Kisuke, a bound Yoruichi shoved in behind him by a man holding a sword to her neck. He looked back at her with wide eyes, carefully running down to see the woman covered in blood.

"If you can't help her, you can't help your own woman." The man with the sword told him.

Yoruichi- her ears pearced and her hair curly, wild, and black looked at Kisuke with kind golden eyes. "One day," She said proudly, "I'll be the nobel." She hissed quietly when the comment earned her a kick to the shin.

Kisuke knelt beside Orihime, his hands flittering all over her body. "I- I'm sorry but there's nothing I can do. She's lost too much blood, and there's only so much I can fix!" He looked over at Yoruichi, panicked, and then back to Rukia. "If I had more time maybe I could create something that-"

Rukia waved him off. "I didn't think there was anything you could do. You, and your odd woman, may go."

Yoruichi smiled wide. "Your brother would be so angry with you for letting a devil like me live!" She mused. "Wouldn't it be funny if in the next life I taunted him for being quick enough to avoid the plague he fell prey to? Fast enough in spirit to run so long past his life time?" She cackled with laughter, ignoring another kick to the back of her legs.

Kisuke quickly stood, running over to her. "Maybe one day you'll save me." He muttered. "But for now I'm saving you again."

He opened up his hand, smiling lightly at the guard when he was passed the rope around Yoruichi's neck. "Thank you." He said softly.

At sword-point, they were led out of the room.

A heavy silence collected, disturbed only by Hana's heavy breathing.

Somewhere in the distance, a hollow roared.

"Come." Ichigo said quietly to Rukia. "We can't let them get her soul." He looked back at Ulquiorra and seemed to silently say, _Or his._

Rukia nodded. "Of course." She turned to Renji, holding her arms out like she needed to be carried. "Take my body to my room." She commanded him. "And them come back here and-"

"No." Ulquiorra rasped. "Leave us."

Rukia looked away. "… And then go inform the town of what has happened here." _Of her death._

Ichigo reached out to Rukia, carefully pushing his hand into the skin at the back of her neck. She tensed up before her body dropped into Renji's arm, her spirit- though still chained to her body- floating freely.

In her hand she held a sword, her eyes narrowed. "Lead the way." She murmured.

They dashed away into the night. Renji soon left the room too, and then it was just some version of Ulquiorra and herself.

"Daseki?"

"I'm here, Hana." He soothed, running a hand over her cheek again. "What is it?"

"It's cold." She breathed. "Will you hold me?"

He quickly reached up and undid straps over his shoulders, throwing away his armor and helmet. He revealed a wound in the side of his gut, but didn't seem to care about it. Carefully, as though she was made of glass, he lifted her into his arms, once again resting her head above his heart.

"Is that better?" He asked after some time.

"Much."

"I have failed you."

"No… No, this is just how fate meant for it to be."

"I can't-"

"You can." She said softly. Shaking, she reached up and held his face with a whitening hand. "I love you." She sighed out, opening her steal eyes to smile at him. "And I'm happy I at least got to see you one last time."

He looked away from her. "Should I not go fetch that ghost boy?" He asked sadly. "The one who wished to fall for in this life and five more?"

"No… I… I think that I loved falling for him." She said lightly. "But I loved falling for you so much more." Tears started to slip from her eyes and down her cheeks, mixing with the blood pooling in the dips made by her collarbones.

He buried his face in her hair, holding her tightly as he shook. "You can't leave me." He rasped. "I never cared before you. I never wanted before you. Without you the world hold no meaning. Everyone else is… they… they're all trash compared to you."

"Trash?" She mused with a trembling voice. She laughed painfully. "What an unusual way to think about it." She moaned, curling up into a ball. "I can barely hold on." She whispered. "So Daseki?"

He froze.

"Would you kiss me once before I go?"

Slowly, carefully, he drew back. He looked down at her face. Carefully, shakily, he leaned forward and just barely brushed her lips. He kissed her without any force, for just a moment, and then her hand dropped from his face. Her sweet smile stayed in place, though the fluttering of her heart didn't come through in the movement of her veins anymore.

Ulquiorra drew back, tears streaking down his face. His top lip was coated in her blood, his face pale as paper.

Orihime knew that he had been wounded; too, though looking at his toros she knew it wouldn't be enough to kill him... Right?

And yet, after he gave a long deep scream, he crumbled just like she had.

She watched a man die, simply because of a broken heart.

* * *

Dramatic and corny, I know. But this just hit me in the middle of the night and I couldn't NOT write it. So, please entertain my wild delusions about this pairing and the OOCness. I hope you all enjoyed anyway!


	44. Waking

Orihime woke suddenly from her nightmare, sitting strait up in bed and ripping off her headband. She threw it down, trembling, sweat rolling over her neck and down her back. She stood from the bed, falling over once, and then ran to the door. She ripped it open, scrambling to the couch that she knew Ulquiorra would be laying on.

He was sitting up, his headband far off to the side, his eyes wide and troubled.

"Did you." She gulped. "Did you just have the same dream I had because-"

"I slept." He intoned. "I did not know I could."

She breathed deeply, looking all around the dark apartment. "Ulquiorra, did you just have the same dream that I had, or-" She stopped.

"I dreamed of flying." He said in an odd tone. "With you, strangely enough."

She waited.

"I fell from the sky, like some sort of helpless fool. And I can't remember a thing after that."

Stairing deep into his eyes, it finally clicked.

It hadn't been a dream.

Orihime had accidentally looked into the life that had caused him to become a hollow.

She didn't know how she knew, but she did. In the same way she knew that it was no fault of their own. She held out her hand, silently asking for the band he held in his own hand. He placed it into her palm without a word, silently understanding.

She needed to have a word with Urahara Kisuke.

* * *

Short, short, short, I know. Again, I apologize for the oddness but it just had to happen.


	45. A Brief Explanation

"I don't want these." Orihime threw the headband down on Kisuke's front desk, still scared and shaky from her dream the night before. After a pause she quietly asked, "...What were they supposed to do?"

Kisuke looked up at her, his fan open over his mouth. "Why, what ever do you mean? I'm sure you looked adorable in these-"

"Why did I dream about that?" She cut him off.

He paused. "So… I was half right." He muttered to himself.

Her brows furrowed, Orihime leaned forward. "What?"

"I figured that these would ether help break your souls apart or…" He looked off to the side, eyes shadowed. "Well, maybe accidentally bring them a little closer."

She blinked.

"Don't wear them again, I should have just let it be. Your gigai will be done in seven days, by the way." He smiled, pulling down his fan. "And then you won't have to worry about strange dreams and unwanted houseguests! Well, sort of."

Orihime was too tired to ask about the 'well sort of' part.

"Tell me, Miss Inoue, what is it that you think you dreamed of?"

She looked away, her face slack as she remembered. A certain kind of sadness slipped onto her face. "I don't know... Maybe another life."

He nodded slowly. "That's probable. While it may have been thousands of your lifetimes ago, it is likely it was his last. Vasto Lordes are hollows who have been in Hueco Mundo for quiet a long time."

She nodded sharply. "I see."

"It won't happen again." He promised.

She just nodded, "Thank you." and then exited the shop, heading for home.


	46. Already Dead

"I'm home."

"You are back."

Orihime tugged her shoes off, plopping down on the floor as soon as she had. She fell back, her hair spilling around her head, and looked up at Ulquiorra.

He frowned.

"Everyone says that people look different upside down." She mused. "But you don't."

He crouched, his face up above her own. "What information did the shop keeper give you?"

Orihime sighed, titling her head over to stare at the wall. "Nothing." She said dejectedly. "Just that the headbands did the opposite of what they were supposed to do."

He nodded once. "As I assumed."

She just sighed.

Almost curiously, Ulquiorra asked, "What is it that you dreamed?"

She looked up at him out of the corner of her eye. "… I'm not really sure." She admitted.

"Tell me."

"Tell me, _please_." She prompted with a small smile.

"… Tell me… please." He muttered.

She sat up, spinning around on her rear to face him. "I think I dreamed about your life before you died."

He raised his eyebrows. Whether in surprise or doubt she was unsure.

"I… I was in this beautiful mansion." She quietly whispered. "And… there was some sort of party. Rukia and Kurosaki were there, too. But they had switched positions somehow… and everyone was different."

He nodded.

"And… you were a lord. Except, you were also a warrior, I think. You went out to get someone related to Rukia." She swallowed. "And when you came back, she was still alive. You… You put her down on this bed, and then a doctor came in but he said there was nothing he could do… So then everyone left. They went to go fight off hollows… And… well…"

"The woman?" He inquired.

"You… you kissed her." His eyes widened partly in surprise. "She… died." His surprise melted away; he seemed to have expected her death. "And then you died." She finished in a small voice.

"Was this other me injured?"

She nodded.

"So he died from his wounds?"

"I… well, they didn't look like enough to kill you, uh, him. But yes."

He nodded slowly. "I see." He suddenly looked up at her. "You know the woman." He said. He didn't ask. He knew.

She nodded.

He didn't say anything, though it looked like he knew what she wasn't saying.

After an awkward second, she stammered, "Um, uh, don't you want to know who she was?"

"What should it matter?" He said quickly. "The man you saw was not myself but merely my soul before my currant existence. If this woman mattered to him, which you say she did, it no longer matters. In any case, the actions of my past life mean nothing to me as they are not a part of my current existence."

She blinked. "Oh…"

"Do you remember any of it?" She asked after a long stretch of silence.

"No. And I do not care to."

"Why?"

"As I said, it hardly matters."

She nodded again. "Yeah… I guess so."

"Why should it matter to you?" He asked.

She jumped. "Oh… Well, you see…" In her lap her fingers kneaded together. "Um, I was there too."

"I did not ask that." He said. "I asked why it should matter to you. I knew the moment you nodded that you, in fact, are the unnamed woman from this vision."

Her eyes went wide. "I-"

"As I stated before, it does not matter. I simply wish to know why what happened in the past matters to you."

She thought. Silently, she drew her bottom lip into her mouth. After a moment's reflection, she had only one answer. "I… I just heard once that you're doomed to play out your first life over and over again."

"So what if it's true? If that is true than so be it."

"You'd die that death again?"

"If what you have heard is the truth than I don't have a choice, do I?"

"But knowing-"

He stood swiftly. "I am tired of this talk. It is getting us nowhere. When I tell you that it doesn't matter to me I mean it. What use is it worrying over things that are out of my control? Besides," He turned away from her, walking towards the kitchen. "You say that this past you was kidnapped and killed?"

She nodded.

"You've already been kidnapped in this life. It seems that if you were playing out your past it has been altered. You're sitting there now, are you not? It seems you skipped your untimely death in this life."

Slowly, she nodded again.

"And after all," He said darkly, passing through the doorway so that she couldn't see him. "I have already died."

To that she could say nothing at all.


	47. Countdown: Seven Days

So, this is sort of filler. But I can't think up anything else right now, so it shall have to do. Enjoy!

* * *

The sweet taste of honey trickled down the back of Orihime's throat, the soothing spice of hot peppers mixing with the taste and creating something completely delightful. She pushed another red pepper into her little container of the honey, licking her lips.

She picked up a pickled yam and put it in the honey as well, popping the two things into her mouth. She smiled, her mouth closed, and chewed slowly.

Ulquiorra watched.

"That is revolting." He said.

She swallowed. "How would you know if you've never tried it?" She asked with a pout.

"The smell alone is nauseating." He complained.

"You're such a grump." She said with a smile.

He said nothing to that, instead he silently watched as she popped another honey covered pepper into her mouth. And then another yam. And a pepper. She took a sip of her tea, which also had flakes of dried pepper in it. It seemed she was just in the mood for spicy foods; namely , with the Onna, that meant she was in the mood for the exact opposite of spicy as well. Hence the honey.

She suddenly stopped eating, looking up at him. "Are you going to get a job?"

"A job?"

"Yeah. If you're going to live here and eat here and everything you're going to need a job."

"What is it you would have me do?" He asked, not bothering to point out he would most likely not eat anything she made. Even if the gigai did require human food to function, who in the right mind would willingly eat the thing that Orihime made? Her taste was just too... unique.

She put an index finger on her chin, looking up as she pursed her lips. "Hmm… I don't know. Your people skills are a little rusty, so none of that. That takes several things out." She suddenly blinked rapidly, suddenly seeming to come to a relization. "Maybe you'll have to go to school!"

He gave her a dry look. "It was my responsibility to learn of your world before I was sent here to gage Kurosaki Ichigo's strength. I have successfully passed through the tests of not only your high schools but also collage level."

She nodded, not seemingly surprised. "Maybe Urahara-san can get you a diploma…"

He didn't look to worried- it obviously didn't matter to him wether or not the shopkeeper could, he would simply continue to exist anyway.

"Still, where would you like to work?"

She still asked foolish questions, he would give her that. How did she expect him to know what kind of jobs her world had to offer when he had never looked into it? He had, after all, been sure his jobs would fall in Aizen's services for the course of his life. Even when he had begun to realize perhaps there was more outside of that he hadn't wanted to leave the espada. After all, Orihime had pledged her alliance to Aizen, why would he ever have any reason to leave? Of course, it had not been that exact thought sequence then, but looking back on it he had to admit in a small part of him- small as it was- that his reasoning had been along those lines.

Now he was with her, rambling on with scattered thoughts in his would-be tranquil mind. And he _still_ wouldn't know what jobs there were. "I do not know."

She nodded again. "We'll have to look for some place…"

She had some sort of _need_ to state everything that could be left unsaid, he was sure of it. "Indeed." It may or may not have been rubbing off on him.

She smiled. "This will be fun!"

He looked like he disagreed, but said nothing. He had learned that when the onna got into a mindset there was nothing short of a grand re cero that could alter her plans in the slightest.

Orihime didn't mind the look that said he thought otherwise, thought, because to her it really would be. She couldn't think of anything more fun than showing Ulquiorra everything about the world as soon as he got his gigai, and finding a job was high up on the list. So he would indulge her; a habit becoming more frequent as of late and also one he wasn't so sure about.

She laughed. "This will be great!"

He allowed her that much, if only to let her smile last for a little longer. It was him, after all, whom had stolen it away in the first place.


	48. We're All Connected

I'm back! Of course, I just got shipped off to my relatives, but that's okay. (Actually, I may end up not updating because they all hate that I write, so I may not get the chance to as much as I love it.) Anyway, I'll be back to a normal living state at the end of these two weeks. I hope to hear from you all, and I will try to reply to all you said while I was away! Thanks for sticking with me everyone.

* * *

Orihime stood in the fabric shop, surrounded by different things just begging to be sewn into existence.

She usually lost herself in all the different materials, marveling at the textures and patterns. She loved all the great roles of silk-like cloth and the furry outings of what would one day be a tool for snuggling. She usually loved it.

The headbands. The headbands. The headbands.

They had ruined everything.

Urahara, just that morning, had told her it wouldn't happen again. He had told her not to wear the headbands again and everything would be fine. So why…

She stood staring, her heart pounding, and tried to breath.

It was a pretty pastern. A summer kimono pink. Beside it, a sash of blue. Nothing too fancy, but not rags by any means. The stitching was done with great precision, the cuts only the finest. A skilled seamstress had created it out of things anyone could by.

Just like a kimono for the Tantabana festival in the past.

An echo in her ear, a whisper, something her mind breathed to her. _We're all connected._

A saying once full of hope and love had turned to something akin to a horror story.

_We're all connected._

(~)

A lovely young girl sat on the hillside, watching a young human man swing a stick down at a watermelon, blindfolded. It cracked open, red juices spilling out onto the makeshift table a group of friends had created. He smiled wide, taking off his blindfold. And though he was certainly at least 16 he still turned with a proud smile to his mother, looking for her approval.

The young man would have been Ichigo Kurosaki if it weren't for the blue eyes and hair closer to brown than orange. His mother the Masaki from the pictures if only her hair hadn't been black. Off to the side was a would-be Isshin, looking away distractedly. He was thin, pale, sunken in. He was dying, but it looked like everyone had gotten over that to celebrate.

The young woman herself was a smiling Orihime, her wide brown eyes and straw blond hair drinking in the sight of the Ichigo.

"Great job, Taiyō-kun!" She cheered.

He smiled brighter. "Come on down here Hanabi!" He called to her- even in another life, simply a last name.

Orihime watched as 'Hanabi' stood up, her blue sash swaying lightly in the breeze, pink kimono shifting with her body.

Rukia, face cold, her body cloaked in the robes of a soul reaper, suddenly stepped from a folding door in the air and into the world of the living, lightly falling down to the ground and crouching there. Her eyes were lifeless, coated in a milky film, her hair long and spiraling past her waist in locks of dark, dark brown.

She stood, hand on her sword, but it was then that Orihime realized she was too late.

Rukia would never make it to save the young Hanabi, who's neck had already been captures in the claws of a hollow.

Her body hit the ground, her friends all calling out to her once in worry, as the spirit of the young Hanabi was yanked back and into the arms of the hollow. It's mask had some sort of horn spiraling from the front, which the shocked girl came to know very well within moments. Blood sprayed through the air, the horn sinking through the woman's front and poking out the middle of her chest before the young girl could even scream.

Rukia was there, then, slicing strait through the hollow's horn. Hanabi's spirit body hit the ground, blood leaking out onto the grass. She had just been killed twice in a row- yanked from her living body and then killed in death as well before she could even understand what was happening to her.

Rukia turned to the hollow, ready to kill, but was rammed to the side by another hollow; one much bigger and much, much more powerful than the last. It's paper-white back and pure black markings was all Orihime herself could see as it descended upon the other hollow, ripping it into two and swallowing both pieces in a manner of seconds.

Rukia jumped up, running at the hollow, but her sword swished through the empty air where it had been moments ago.

Defeated, she turned to the spirit choking and shaking with her last breaths on the ground.

"Sleep." She said simply, kneeling, not harshly but not in a loving way ether. She pressed her blade's end to the girl's forehead, turning her into a single butterfly.

Done, she turned back to the door between worlds, and was gone.

(~)

Orihime blinked, sucking in a breath, and yanked her eyes away from the clothes.

And that was the first of many nightmares to come.


	49. Past Lifes

The second of the nightmares was presented in the sound of the bell that rang as she left the shop.

Another version of herself danced before her eyes, body decorated in bells and purple silks. She twirled and clapped and the crowd roared, but she took a step too far back and fell from her stage, eyes going wide as her head cracked against one of the pillars lining her preforming area. The pillar, holding a bowl of hot coals spitting flames, danced itself and shook the heat from it's top. Orihime could only try not to throw up as she shut her eyes tightly, unable to block out the screams of the other her and the smell of something burning.

And it was like a year passed in a blink, because there was the woman who'd been burnt to death, her chest chained to the stage. Being chained down she couldn't run away from the monster that loomed up to swallow her life. The hollow had only finished her legs, the woman's ghost still alive, when the huge white and black hollow from a lifetime ago consumed it- well on its way to becoming a menos. Then the woman was left to bleed to death, nothing more than a torso and a head.

The third nightmare was a stale piece of bread not quiet made to the trash.

She saw another her, dressed in black that blended with the night, dark hair bobbing up on her head in its loose bun. She hummed to herself, her wide gorgeous eyes taking in a dusty road. Her foot crunched on something, so she held up her foot and looked down in puzzlement. It was simply a stale piece of bread, nothing to make any note of. It was then that a thin, desperate figure crawled up onto the path, her child eyes stripped of any past innocence. The other Orihime reached down for the piece of bread she had stepped on, having nothing else to give the starving girl, who must have been able to see the soul reaper since her eyes followed every move that the kind woman made.

With a smile she handed the girl the bread, breathing out kind words about how it would get better, it would get better, it would get better... The girl reached up slowly as it to make for the bread, and then suddenly smiled wide. She grabbed onto the other Orihime's hand, cackling, and suddenly there was a huge harry hollow with a rodent like body, booming his name as King Fisher or something.

It was over in an instant; another soul reaper fallen to the same mass of death that was the King Fisher.

The fourth came as she was running, her breaths bated and her tears coming fast.

This time the her of the past was a little older than normal, herding along three children who obviously were her own, but not related by blood. She knelt in a grove of trees with them, her attire closer to date than any of the last, and put a finger to her lips.

"Okay, now stay here and don't come out until you hear my friend." She said quickly.

"The one who fights?" a child asked.

"Yes. She'll be here soon, she had to come all the way from the temple…" She looked off. A branch cracked.

"Mommy, I'm scared."

She smiled. "Shh, sweetie, it will all be okay. I'll be back, okay?"

The child looked down. "…Okay mommy."

Her adopted children safe, she stood and started to run, making as much noise as she could. The man came out of nowhere, his sword wildly swinging in the air as he yelled about having to have his children back, hinting in his loud rants and curses about harm he intended to do to them.

The past's Orihime ran, her face not scared in the bit; rather, determined. She was on a mission, and she didn't seem to care about what would happen to her in the end. The woman could only run for so long, though, and at one point her foot caught on a branch and she went tumbling forward. The man slowly approached her, panting as she was, a wild look in his eyes.

"Gotcha." He snarled, holding his sword up over his head.

The woman grabbed a rock beside her and threw it at him, hitting him in the face with the stone and scrambling to her feet. She kicked him in the groin as he tried to recover from the previous blow, sending him to his knees. She turned to run and hit the ground hard, her skirt hem fisted in the man's hand. He swiped out blindly with his blade, drawing a quick scream from her and he slashed her across the back. She kicked at him, freeing herself, and then started to run again.

But with blood pouring from her back it was only so long until she found herself cornered; the man right on her tail. She looked at the wide, wide river that swept through the land like a fang cutting through flesh. It was deep and the color of the sky- midnight black blue. It was swift as a river could be, making it clear that anyone who so carelessly ventured into it would be sucked down and drowned.

The man grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around. "You little-" she spit in his face, kicking him in the shin. "bitch!"

He tumbled back and threw his sword out again, this time making two clean cuts; one through her chest and the other across her stomach. She hit the ground, panting heavily, and waited. The man came forward, hissing out promises of pain and torture for both her and the children she had been taking care of since the man had killed his wife. As he stepped forward she grabbed onto his arm, and with one last look of determination, she pulled them both down into the river.

The fifth life was the latest, the last of the nightmares stumbling through her mind.

It came in the form of Ulquiorra's face as he opened the door to their apartment.

A woman just barely older than herself, and the exact image of her, looked at the giant white hollow that had been in so many of her lives. It had evolved past everything; past a menos, past a Gillian. A vasto lordes. Pure white, covered in white, white, white, white. White like the purity the world lacked, with black hair and black tears like the darkness the world bred. And eyes greener than envy; green as the very soul of the world before it was spoiled and at the same time as ruined as present. The woman, not a soul reaper, but simply a soul, somehow lost in Los Noches, looked up at him.

She smiled, reaching out a hand, and whispered, "Are you alone?"

The hollow didn't respond. He stared past her at a great tree; the very center of Hueco Mundo, the great collection of dead branches that meant everything in the world.

She laughed softly to herself. "Well, beside your plant over there. It's a nice tree. Pretty. …But you are alone. Just as alone as I am right now. The rest of my team got scattered… but that doesn't matter." She reached her hand out further. "I think you're very lovely."

But the hollow couldn't see her or hear her; he was hypnotized by the great collecting of white branches. He moved past her, and right before her eyes, threw himself into the tree. He sunk down into it, and finally looked at peace.

And so she just smiled, looking off. "I'll be dead soon." She whispered, uncovering her hand from the rags it was hidden in. "I got bitten by a poisonous hollow…" She laughed again, lightly, and reached out to just barely touch his hand, even as blood dripped from the tips of his fingers and down to the sands. She wasn't the least bit repulsed or afraid. "Sleep well friend." She murmured lovingly.

She lay down on the sandy ground, and closed her eyes, and smiled.

Then, the nightmares were over.

Orihime blinked.

She threw herself forward, into Ulquiorra's arms, and began to sob.

"It's over now." She whispered to herself, clutching to him like a life line.

The words came back to her in the form of a smooth hand drifting over her back. _Yes, yes it's over._

"It's okay now." She managed through her weeping, looking over his shoulder at the apartment she had managed to run to.

_Yes. Yes, it's okay._

* * *

Quick note- I meant for the big white hollow that ate the ones attack Orihime to be Ulquiorra, my friend said this was a little un-clear.


	50. Breaking from the Past

Orihime lay down on the couch, a bag of heated grains of rice over her forehead. It helped with her headache more than any medicine would, she thought, so she kept it there and concentrated on breathing.

All of the ramped memories that she couldn't call her own had given her a massive migraine. But she found that the less she thought about it, the more they seemed to fade away, like actual dreams. She had been laying on the couch for almost an hour, and she could hardly remember any of the visions.

She was glad, in all honestly. As Ulquiorra said, her past lives didn't matter. So why should she have to remember those horrible things that had happened to other versions of herself?

Quietly, Ulquiorra came out of the kitchen with a mug full of tea. He had told her that he would make one quit some time ago, around when she had lay down on the couch. Did it really take an entire hour for him to make tea?

She turned, looking up at him, and smiled.

Now she understood why.

Ulquiorra stood there, white robes intact, white helmet on the side of his head, legs without fur and hair just at the shoulders.

He was back to his first state; the one that she had always thought to be the most human. His wings no longer cramped the room, his tail no longer swished from side to side so that it would not drag over the floor. He was in a state he could move around in. A state to easily live in.

She remembered what he had once told her- that he stayed as he was when he died because she hadn't been able to move on.

"Thank you." She said quietly, reaching up and accepting the mug full of tea. After a moment, she spoke again, sitting up to make a space for him on the couch. "I'm glad." She said as he sat.

He looked at her expectantly, though she just looked down into her mug full of tea.

"I'm glad that you're back to normal." She said.

"You have moved on, it seems." He answered in a deep tenor.

She leaned back, bumping into his shoulder. "Um, can I?" She asked, awkwardly leaning back. She blushed lightly, still holding her tea.

He understood her request. "I do not see why you could not."

She nodded, her blush spreading, and leaned back until her head was situated in his lap. The heat of his legs soothed the aching pound in the back of her head, the heated rice ebbing the pain at the front. She smiled lightly, her embarrassment forgotten, and sighed.

"Ulquiorra?"

"Yes?"

"What are we going to do?"

There was a pause. "I do not understand the question, woman, be clear."

She opened her eyes, looking up at him and pouted slightly. "Everyone is going to freak out about you being alive." She explained. "I don't want anything to get out of control. Especially with Kurosaki-kun."

"Simply explain the situation to them."

"But they think you're a bad guy."

"As they should."

"But you're not!"

He turned his eyes down to her own, imploring her to further explain.

"You're… you're not a bad guy. You're a good guy."

"I am a hollow. By definition, the enemy of both soul reapers and humans."

"I didn't say you weren't… I said you're a good guy. Deep down, underneath your skin. You're… nice."

He arched a brow. "Nice?"

She puffed out her cheek. "Yes…"

"Hm." He looked off, over at her door, and seemed to think it over.

She was spared having to find a new topic to speak of by the phone ringing. Ulquiorra reached over and picked it up, handing it to her. She clicked 'on' and held it to her face.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Inoue, it's Manhana."

She blinked in surprise. "Oh. Hi!"

"Hi! Um, I know this is sort of unexpected, by our house got flooded. My sisters both have friends to stay with while my dad tries to fix it all, but I don't right now…"

"Oh! That's horrible! Do you want to stay the night here?" She asked right away.

"That would be awesome." She said with a relived sigh. "When can I come over?"

"Whenever you want!" She said happily.

"Oh, wow, thank you so much Orihime. I'll be over in just a couple of minutes."

"M'kay. I'll see you! Bye!"

"Bye!"

Orihime hung up, handing the phone back to Ulquiorra, watching as he put it back in it's place.

It was then that she realized that Ulquiorra would still be in her house. At the same time as Manhana.

"Oh no." She moaned, putting her hands over her face. "What are we going to do?"

"House your friend without causing her untimely death, I suppose."

She uncovered her face slowly. She smiled. "Sassy Ulquiorra returns!"

"I was not giving you the sass, woman, I was merely-"

She sat up suddenly. "Wait, I need to clean up!" She jumped off of the couch, her hot rice bag falling to the floor, and ran to the table. It was spotless already, but she swiped it off with her arm quickly anyway. She jumped up, running all around her apartment making sure everything was in perfect order.

"I think it's good." She said finally, turning around with a big smile. She flicked a light on, as it had suddenly gotten a little dark outside. Dusk had fallen without her even noticing.

Ulquiorra had moved around the apartment with her, straitening things out and picking up without having been asked. He seemed to already know where everything went, as he never asked the location but never got it wrong.

"Okay, I think this is good, everything looks clean." Orihime turned in a circle, rag in hand. She looked over at Ulquiorra, who seemed to have suddenly become very interested in her bookshelf. "What do you think?"

"It looks fine."

She nodded, giving the apartment one last sweep with her eyes. "You're right… I just hope that-"

_Knock, knock, knock!_

Orihime turned with wide eyes to Ulquiorra. He nodded towards the door expectantly.

With a small sigh, Orihime reached for the lock.


	51. Baby Talk

Manhana was odd in the way that she didn't enjoy her rice topped with pickle juice and vanilla pudding, funny in the way that she would turn a bright red when offered it, like the very thought of eating something so good made her embarrassed.

Orihime didn't blame her for that- it was good.

Manhana quietly ate a bowl of rice topped with a little bit of soy sauce and a couple chrysanthemum. Oddly enough, she liked that.

Orihime remembered all her days with Manhana, though she didn't come over hardly as often as Tatsuki- maybe once every two or three months.

With Ulquiorra there it was just awkward, nothing like it had used to be. Childish jokes no longer held as much mirth and funny faces weren't very humorous. Suddenly Orihime had to wonder when any of those things had been.

Manhana brought her stuffed bunny to the sleep over, along with a bunch of other things, but it was the stuffed animal she held most dear to her and refused to sleep without.

When Orihime, clad in pajamas, came out to the living room without her pink bear, Manhana had been confused. She had asked about the stuffed animal, wondering if the girl still slept with it curled up in her arms.

It was then Orihime was startled to say that, "No… I don't."

She looked over at Ulquiorra, whom Manhana could not see. She pulled her lip in between her teeth when she saw the look in his eyes, that look of what almost could have been pride and yet at the same time was a hard cold splash of guilt.

_I made you stronger._ Is what that look said. _I took away your childhood even though you weren't ready to let it go._

He was right.

Turning back to Manhana, Orihime didn't smile.

And it was then that she found she didn't want to pretend. She didn't want to smile and laugh and tell her friend that it was just because the bear was dirty or some other nonsense. She didn't want to assure her childish friend that she was still the same old Orihime- because she wasn't anymore. She didn't want any of that, she didn't want to baby her friends the way that they had babied her because when the time came to grow up she hadn't known what to do, and if she pretended nether would any of her other friends.

Ulquiorra hadn't babied her. And while she had hated him for it, she now came to be thankful for it.

He had helped her to drop her childhood and step into her own body; to stand tall as a woman and look death in the eye unflinchingly.

She wouldn't go back to being that helpless creature that was treated as a toddler and treated others in kind.

She wouldn't pretend ever again.

* * *

Congratulations to Nataliebug2 for being the 200th review! Thank you everyone so much for getting this story so far.

Reminder- Ulquiorra can manifest around a couple of people, just not crowds.


	52. Goodnight

Nighttime was a little awkward. Of course, Manhana wouldn't know that, because she didn't know that there were three people at the sleepover.

Orihime pushed her index fingers together. "Um… do you want the bed or the couch?"

"Oh, Orihime, I wouldn't want to intrude! You're doing enough already. I'll take the couch."

"Are you sure..?"

"Yes. I'll see you in the morning."

Orihime watched as Manhana got up from the bed, holding her hands out carefully so that she wouldn't mar her nail polish. She turned to Orihime, her pink nightgown spinning around her knees, and smiled.

"Night!" She said again.

Orihime nodded at her. "…Night."

The soft click of the door made Orihime turn to the man who had been her constant distraction throughout the night. He was standing in the corner of her room with his arms folded.

The first thing he asked was, "What is it you have done to your hands?"

Orihime looked down at the baby-blue hue that colored the tips of her fingers. "Painted." She said, lifting them up for him to see.

"Why?"

"Because I think it looks nice. I like it like this."

"Hm."  
Then there was a silence in the air that wasn't exactly comfortable like it should have been. After all, it was the duo's standard bedtime. The only thing was that he didn't have a couch to return to for bed.

He didn't seem to care, as he turned to leave, but Orihime did. She wouldn't ever force anyone to sleep on the floor. She remembered the days at her aunts on the cold floor all night, waking up in the morning with half of her body too stiff to move. She thought it was a little heartless to make someone sleep on the floor.

"Um, wait."

He turned to look at her out of the corner of his eye.

"You can't sleep on the ground." She said softly. "Um, here…" She patted the bed, inviting him to sit. She eyed the ground, wincing. She hated sleeping on the ground more than anything in the world. Well, not anything, but-

"Woman, you have become distracted."

Orihime jumped, shaken from her thoughts, and found Ulquiorra was already sitting beside her on the bed.

Blushing bright red, Orihime quickly crawled under the sheets. "Goodnight!" She piped, curling up and turning away from him. She left plenty of room left beside her; she would be the first to admit she had a rather large bed.

Ulquiorra didn't move for a second.

"Is it not customary for you to sleep without the lights?"

Orihime felt her blush spread. "Oh, yeah, could you turn the lights off?"

He stood, walking over to switch off the lights. It went dark, and a second later she could feel his weight on the bed again. Sitting where he had been just moments ago, Ulquiorra didn't make a sound.

She sighed, finding her blush seeming to recede in the dark. "You… you can lay down if you want."

She felt him move beside her, drawing himself out flat like a board in the space beside her. He stayed on top of the covers, which was unsurprising.

Orihime smiled, relaxing. "Goodnight, Ulquiorra."

"I suppose I am suppose to say 'goodnight' as well?"

She laughed quietly- plenty answer to his question.

"Goodnight, onna."


	53. Countdown: Six Days

It is on the sixth day before his gigai is supposed to be ready that Orihime realizes something with a sickeningly hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach.

If Ulquiorra is going to become real to the world again, won't Soul Society come for him?

She bolts up in bed, turning with wide eyes to the sleeping form of her thoughts, looking at his pale face and dark tears and thinks that she just can't have that happen.

Rukia is one of three people who knows of her secret- the only one still on good terms with the Soul Society. Kisuke won't tell because he's so drowned in his own guilt for what happened to her, and Youruichi won't tell because she probably wants Soul Society itself to go up in smoke for what happened to her and her dearest friend. Rukia can be trusted because she had seen what Soul Society could do to one of their own; she wouldn't turn in a friend who could be convicted of knowing and bringing back the enemy.

So her secret was safe.

Until there was a walking, living, breathing, eating body that she had to hide.

"Woman."

Orihime turns, her wide and panicked eyes locking with Ulquiorra's. He is the sort of person to think everything through, so of course he already knew what it was that troubled her. He might have thought it through himself a couple of times, but never said anything, because he was the sort of person who said nothing out of context. There was no reason to bring the problem up, so he hadn't.

"Ulquiorra, I-"

She finds she can't say anything, because her throat is tight with the tears that she wants to shed. Not because she's sad, but because she's just so _frustrated_. It's like every time she thinks she's finally figured something out it all falls to pieces, and then she has to start all over again. Problem after problem after problem. For once, couldn't it just be simple?

"I don't want to lose you." She says quietly.

"You won't." He reassures her.

But there is that certain dead weight in the air- like someone's made a bad joke at a funeral. It is a joke, it's all just one bad joke because he's a dead hollow and she's a living human and there's really nothing they can ever do to exist in the same world. There's the added question, the one that's always at the back of her mind- _why would be want to exist in the same world in the first place?_

She could have him escape to Hueco Mundo as soon as his soul is re-built inside his gigai, but she asked him to stay with her. And he agreed. There was the question, the worry, the wonder. WHY?

Once in class while she had been staring out the window in search of bat wings and green ceros, the topic of stockholm syndrome came up and shook her from her dreams. And she had thought about it, wondering if maybe she herself had experienced it, but if that was true then why didn't she imagine Aizen and all his terrible power? Wasn't he her real captor? But when thinking of him she felt an emotion she rarely felt- hate.

So why?

They were so painfully different, not even the same species, really. The only thing they seemed to have in common was their powers- her the only human with the powers of a goddess, and he the only espada with the power to achieve a second release.

He sat up, titling his head to look into her eyes, and she felt she might have found the answer.

"What is wrong? You look confused."

She looked away sharply, standing from the bed. "Nothing. I'm fine."

"You're lying."

Yes, it was there. And yes, she had always sort of known but never really thought it.

"I know I am."

"Why?"

The question, again. It made her nervous. Did there really have to be a reason for everything?

Of course there did. "Because… I'm… Not sure what I'm thinking."

She was grateful when he didn't say anything, but simply stood to walk over to her side.

_I should tell him._ She thought. _I should tell him now. With our luck it might be now or never-_

"Your friend will wake soon. You should go."

As luck would have it. "Oh. Um, yes! Yes! I should!" She turned, rushing for the door as suddenly she felt she was going to implode with embarrassment for, what? She wasn't even really sure, she just knew her face felt hot and her heart was hammering in her chest like a drum. "I-"

"Woman."

"…Yes?"

"You're trembling."

"Am I?"

He sounded a bit frustrated with his answer, to her slight amusement. "Do I have any reason to lie?"

She laughed lightly, head lightly resting on the door. "No… no you don't."

"Then why ask?" He asked, still sounding slightly ticked.

"I'm just a little…"

She found herself being turned around, a very suspicious Ulquiorra holding a hand to her forehead. "You are hot." He said, and her face burned with an even more pronounced blush. "You must have fallen ill. You should return to bed so that-"

The rest of his words were lost to her. She just couldn't seem to stop thinking how very, very close he was. His nose was almost brushing her own, as she stood with her back pressed to the door. His eyes were so stunning when they were so close… his lips were right there…

She turned the handle of the door, laughing loudly and nervously. "Nope, I'm fine, gotta go!" And without a look back she zipped from her bedroom and out to the living room.

And thus was the first time Orihime realized that not only did she not want to lose Ulquiorra, she also wanted him to be her own.

In the girlfriend-boyfriend kind of way.


	54. Weirder than Weird

This chapter is a little stupid, but I think it's cute. So, here it is!

* * *

Manhana could not understand exactly why it was Orihime set three places for breakfast. But she didn't say anything- Orihime had always been a little weird. Maybe she was putting out some food for her dead brother? What was his name… Sota? Yeah, Sota. Or maybe Sora. Definitely Sora.

Still, it was a little odd- more odd than usual- that Orihime slipped food off the plate whenever she wasn't looking. It was almost like a third person was in the room eating off the plate when she wasn't looking. She tried to catch Orihime several times, starring off to the door casually to look back quickly and unexpectantly a single moment later. But Orihime was never fazed.

It was driving her just a little crazy.

_Then_ came the early morning movies.

And it wasn't enough that Orihime had to sit really close, like there was a person on the other side of her. No, she had to take huge handfuls of popcorn whenever Manhana was really into the movie- like there was someone else there.

And after that then came the game- risk. Risk, the game Manhana had _never_ been beaten in. Orihime acted just as she usually did, but then it would come time for Oirhime to pick her next move... She would suddenly look to the side, the empty seat that had an extra plate that morning. And then she would look back down at the board with this cunning smile and ruthlessly take over another section of the board. She was a one-woman armada all of the sudden, looking over to where her imaginary friend was, possessing the intellect of someone who'd tried taking over the world and probably could have. It was unnerving!

After Orihime's crushing victory, she had decided that maybe she should go home and see if they were mostly done cleaning up the flooding. She wasn't sure if she could take another minute of the madness.

"Orihime, um, can I use your phone?"

She smiled gently, like nothing was wrong. "Of course! It's right over there-" She stopped, looking behind her. Suddenly she looked back to Manhana. "Never mind, it's over there."

Manhana tried very, very hard but despite his best efforts her eye did start to twitch. "Thanks, Hime." She ground out with a smile. "I'll just be a second."

She grabbed the telephone from its cradle, turning to sit down on the couch behind where Orihime was standing. She quickly plopped down, then jumped back up with a scream.

"I FELT SOMETHING ON THE COUCH!"

Orihime blinked. "Oh my."

There was only so much Manhana could take. And this was weird. Really weird.

"That's it, I'm out of here!" Handing the phone back to Orihime she ran for her bags, hefting them up over her shoulder. "I love you to death Orihime, but this is too weird!" And out the door she went.

For a second, Orihime just stood in the middle of the room, confused.

She turned to Ulquiorra, an impish smile growing over her features. "Ha." She started, barely containing the laugh. "Ha ha." And then from there she broke down into laughing.

Ulquiorra remained still, a small frown on his face.

"Come on, Uqluiorra, that was funny!" Orihime managed through her laughter.

To that his dry reply was, "She sat on me."

Orihime only laughed harder.


	55. Plans for the Future

After Manhana had left Orihime had played a game of Risk with Ulquiorra, but without him on her side she found her defeat after only her third turn. So they moved on to another game, as Orihime loved games and wanted Ulquiorra to as well. He was new to the whole concept, too, so she tried to start out simple.

Simple being Shoots and Latters- which she won the first time. After that she had suffered three crushing losses, and then they were done with board games for the day.

Orihime had thought about having a little more fun, but decided that she should probably go to work.

Leaving, she had turned and waved goodbye, even though he would technically be with her the entire time.

"Goodbye! I'll see you in a little while, Ulquiorra-kun!"

He tilted his head to the side just barely, confused, and half raised up a hand before returning it to his pocket and looking away. "Return with your life, woman." He ordered.

She laughed and waved again, closing the door. "I'll try!"

* * *

So this really weird thing has happened and it's driving me insane. I have published (not including this chapter and those to come) 54 chapters. But in my docs, it says I have 55. I've checked over and over and over and everything seems to be in place? It's like I'm not missing any content for the story, as if the numbers are just messed up. But the numbers are not messed up! I've checked several times! Ugh, this is going to keep me up all night... Anyway, long story short, if anyone has noticed anything weird tell me. Even if it's just that you feel there was a longer skip in time than usual in between chapters or something akin to that. I have to figure this out! Anyway, here is the first of tonight's two uploads since I couldn't yesterday. (I didn't have time to write a chapter out.) Thanks!


	56. Like a Date

Dinner was Chinese take-out.

She walked into the apartment with the bag in hand, a swing in her hips as she sang. "Don't step on the Chinese take-out! You'll squish it down and then you'll pout." After all, she had always had a Chinese take-out song, since when Sora had been the one bringing it home. She had invented it after, unfortunately, stepping on the food and crushing it into the carpet. It had smelt like egg-drop soup for weeks.

She turned and shut the door, locked it, and flicked off her shoes. She spun back around and felt her heart leap up into her throat when she almost collided with Ulquiorra.

"You are back." He said, seemingly satisfied to have beat her to the welcome.

She giggled, throwing up her arms- being careful to hold on to her food. "I'm home!"

She sashayed past him and to the table, taking out her treasure of boxed food and laying it out in the middle of the table.

One bowl of egg drop soup, a bunch of dumplings, and a container of rice.

Uquiorra sat down in front of her a second later with two pairs of chopsticks, handing her one pair.

"Dig in!"

She quickly started eating from the food she had placed in the middle of the table, forcing back her blush. They were sharing food, but that was nothing special, right? She shared food with all her friends!

…Still.

As she watched him take rice from the same container that she did, she couldn't help but sort of feel like it was a date.

Who knew? Maybe when he had a body she would take him on a real date.


	57. Emotions

Contrary to popular believe, Ulquiorra Cifer did have feelings. Plenty of them. In fact, he would say he was a man of many, many confusing and bothersome feelings that he may or may not have been better off without. Well, he would say if the onna asked, and in words less descriptive, but he would tell her.

That, he found, was a product of _feelings_.

It was actually a little odd, being able to admit that he had feelings. Before his epiphany of 'the heart' he had… well, he had felt something. Many things that confused him. Most of the confusing things that had been stirring within him centered around the onna, which was a bit bothersome since he was supposed to break her spirit. How was he supposed to keep her pressed down under a slab of despair when he felt a sick churn in his gut every time he heard her softly weeping in her room?

Then had come actually beginning to _care_ about her. Well, then he had still refused to acknowledge his feelings. He was completely and totally loyal to Aizen- he had no time for feelings of the upmost dedication towards one of the man's prisoners.

His confusion had been further stimulated when she had started with her supposed nonsense about the heart. What heart? He had no heart. He had a gaping hole punched through his chest in the place of the organ. And that was all it was, was it not? A muscle that pumped blood and oxygen and subsequently kept one alive? Why did she talk about it like it was something else?

In his confusion he had been so… irritated. Another feeling he had begun to feel, though he would be the first to admit that irritation was a feeling he was no stranger too. How couldn't he get irritated with trash like Grimmjow and Nnoitora around?

But this had been a deeper irritation. He was so frustrated with her. Why couldn't she just cut all her bonds to her friends? Didn't she realize what dangerous waters she was treading? One false move and Aizen would have him kill her. He just… he _had_ to show her how stupid she was being. She was a fool for depending on her friends. She was on his side.

Thus his battle with the orange haired shinigami.

And then there was familiarity- no feelings. Just battle. But is it raged on and on he found himself getting more and more frustrated. Why did the human continue to fight when it was futile? He was only inspiring more false hope in the woman, didn't he know that? As if Ulquiorra could let him win. He was too reckless with the woman- a careless swing of his sword just earlier had almost dispatched her. If it had not been for Ulquiorra himself the fool would have certainly killed her.

Imagine how incredibly frustrated he had been when the fool boy had gotten up from death to fight in another form. He had been surprised- an emotion he felt very rarely in his life.

So many emotions.

He had watched the careless fool of a boy in his last moments of life- when he was sure he didn't have the strength left to stand. And once again the idiot was about to end the life of the woman he had come to save.

It was then that he found perhaps he did have a use for emotions, because in that moment he had been able to summon strength he did not know he possessed. He had ended the boy's hollowfication and saved the woman.

Of course, feelings could only push death off so far.

It was in those very last moments that it had all fallen into place, with the woman crying for him as he started crumbling to dust. He reached for her in his last moments not because he needed to… but because it's what his heart wanted.

Since then, his feelings for her had only gotten… odder. It was the only way to describe it. He wasn't so sure now, even if Aizen ordered him to, that he would do anything to make her sad or hurt her in any way. It was as if she was his new Aizen- but she gave no orders and he actually cared about her. She simply held control over his life. If she asked him he would rip his eye from the socket and crush it for her. He would pluck out both eyes to show her all she wanted. He would loose an arm like that fool Grimmjow if it meant keeping her safe. He might even do the battle with the fool boy all over again if it meant her safety. No, not might, he would. Even knowing he would not come out of it alive.

He had nothing to call the emotion, no base knowledge of how feelings worked. But from the onna's babbling, he was beginning to think he was understanding.

Love? Was that a proper name for it?

The word seemed too human. To small and insignificant when compared to the emotion. He found he didn't much care for the word- it was much too simple to label what it was he felt for Orihime Inoue.

She didn't seem to know, of course. She was too busy fighting robots and faint field mice inside her imagination, crying out the highlights of the battle to him, to notice his gave. Soft- it was a gaze gentle and soft.

He kept quiet, though, never once voicing how he felt. He doubted she would take well to the news that his heart may have given itself to her- he himself was hardly pleased. It felt like a weakness more than a strength.

He would let her discover what she would in her own time, he decided, watching as she suddenly jumped up and ran to get the phone.

"Hey Tatsuki!" She cheered.

Ulquiorra let a larger breath than usual past his lips- almost a sigh.

"Of course. When will you be here?" The woman nodded. "Yep! I'll see you tomorrow night!"

* * *

Sorry that it's been so long! I will try to continue daily updates, but I make no promises, as I've got a crazy amount of things to do. So, as usual, here is your invitation to tell me what you think. Thanks!


	58. Human Atraction

Orihime hummed in her shower, rubbing her mango-scented shampoo into her scalp. She rather liked the smell, personally, it was one of her favorites. She got a new scent every time she bought a new bottle of shampoo or conditioner, and usually body wash, but she had to say that if she could only have one scent for the rest of the year it would be a three-way tie between strawberry, coconut, and mango.

Ulquiorra was sitting on her bed, probably listening to her random outbursts of song. "Fuyu no hanabi." She sang, turning and dipping her head into the shower's spray of warm water. "Fuyu no hanabi…" She turned the shower off, stepping out and onto the mat decorating the tile floor. "Fuyu no hanabi!"

She giggled when she heard Ulquiorra mutter, "What about winter fireworks?" outside her door.

"Just like winter fireworks!" She cheered, bounding out into her room clad in her pink towel. A lot of people believe she was fairly conscious about her body, but those people seemed to forget about, well, her not being. Heck, she wasn't even that conscious around boys if they were her friends. She just forgot about it. One time she had actually taken her shirt off in front of Uryuu while changing into soul reaper clothing in the soul society, only stopping when he had protested. And then she had made him his own special little dressing room, thinking that maybe he was the one who wanted privacy.

"Hmm… Let's see…" She started shuffling through the pajama drawer in her dresser, not even thinking about her currant state of dress. It just didn't cross her mind. Maybe if it did, since it was Ulquiorra, she would have been embarrassed. But it simply didn't.

She grabbed a pale purple nightgown- a faint lavender fringed with black lace. Chizuru had gotten it for her at their last Christmas get together. She grabbed her underwear as well, balling the clothes up into a mass, and then skipped back into the bathroom.

Ulquiorra remained frozen on the bed with wide eyes.

Since when did human bodies interest him so much?

(~o0o~)

Orihime plopped down in bed, looking up at Ulquiorra's stiff back. He looked like someone had shot him with an ice beam. He had remained in the same spot he had sat in since her shower the whole entire time she got ready, and then still when she crawled under the covers.

"Ulquiorra?"

He turned his head slightly to lend her his ear.

"Are you going to sleep?"

Stiffly, as if his joints really were all covered in ice, he laid back on top of the covers, staring up at the ceiling.

With a small shrug, Orihime just snuggled further into her pillow, smiling as she drifted off to sleep.


	59. Countdown: Four Days

Morning came, with the promise of another day down on the countdown. Four days to go. Four days until Ulquiorra would have a body to walk around in.

What on earth was she going to do?

In a fit of nervousness, Orihime prepared a couple of omelets. Even she had to say that marshmallows most certainty did not go in omelets once she finished, but she choked down the food so as to not waste. She was glad that she had been hungry enough for two servings and had eaten Ulquiorra's- she didn't want to submit him to such a terrible dish.

So she made him a plane cheese omelet while he was still in bed.

_Her bed._ She thought with a blush.

She was both nervous and excited- anxious, she supposed- about what was to come in four days.

She was excited because _finally _Ulquiorra would have a body and they could go out together and other things like that.

The list of things that made her nervous was a bit longer…

But she was not a secretive person, and lately she had been drawing back in her truthful nature. She decided that maybe she shouldn't put things off any longer.

She picked up the phone, sat down on the couch, and took in a deep breath.

Who would she tell first?

Ishida was a prime canadite, but Orihime wasn't so sure that she wanted him to know first just in case he took the news badly. He was, after all, the only one who could probably somehow find Ulquiorra's spirit ribbon and then hunt him down if things didn't go as she planned.

Rukia seemed like the logical first choice, but the girl was staying with Ichigo, and that was someone who Orihime wasn't exactly looking forward to informing.

So, she smiled a little and dialed in a number she rarely called. The owner of the phone it would call wasn't very big on words anyway.

"Hello?"

Orihime took in a deep breath. "Hi, Chad!"

"Orihime."

Chad was a close friend, so he used her first name a lot. He sometimes still used Inoue, but those moments were rare as of late.

"Listen, I need to tell you something. It's about… er, well, it's sort of about Hueco Mundo."

There was a heavy pause on the other side. Then, Chad sighed. "It was sort of hard for me to see spirits at first."

Orihime, confused, waited.

"But for some reason it was easy to see his after the school got blown up."

Orihime's eyes went wide, her mouth lightly falling open.

"I don't really get why no one else can see him. But you're happy now." A slight pause. "So it's okay."

Orihime broke out into a huge smile. "Th-thank you Chad." She looked down at her lap, her eyes growing soft. "Thank you for believing in me." Because if he hadn't, then he surely would have brought it up before, wouldn't he have?

"It's no problem."

Orihime was still a little amazed- this was the most she had ever heard the man speak in one sitting.

"Thanks again. I'll see you at school?"

"Mmhm." His deep tenor confirmed, no longer using words. He had reached his quota for the day.

"Bye!"

_Click._

Maybe telling everyone wouldn't be as hard as she thought…

Ishida was next, and he was a little blown away by what she had to say. But after her calming him down and telling him, no, please stay home, she did not need him to come over and protect her, he had listened. He wasn't exactly pleased, to say the least, but he insured her that she had his trust. And, telling her to call him if the espada tried anything, said goodbye.

Two down.

Three to go.

Rukia was next- the phone passed to her by a tired-sounding Ichigo. She had sounded a little tired too, but had indulged her timid admittance that Ulquiorra would soon be part of everyone else's world, too. And then had offered to help her break the news to Ichigo with what she called, "the phone speaker." Which she then a second later said was, "Oh, sorry, the speakerphone."

Orihime swallowed, preparing for the worst, hoping for the best.


	60. The News

**Okay, I'm just posting this chapter (sorry it's so small) to say that I'm putting this story on hold. My fic, Color, has finally decided to give me inspiration for it's sequel. This story will be on a bit of a hiatus until I'm done with my other one, though I will not lie when I tell you that I'm sort of hoping I'll finish it up quickly. Same with this one, though, I really need to start working more on my original stuff! So, sorry, but this story will be put on the back burner for a while. Thank you! **

* * *

Ichigo was shocked to say the least.

But he really had taken the new better than anyone expected.

"Well… I never did beat that bastard." He had admitted after a lot of yelling and threats and promises to safe Orihime. "It was my hollow… so I guess I'm a little glad he's back."

Rukia had laughed. "Well, looks like it's all sorted out then."

Ichigo sighed. "Yeah. I guess we'll see him in a couple days."


End file.
